Using blasphemy law reform as cover, Scotland finds a way to attack discrimination

Scotland brings the law into the 21st century. Melanie McDonagh, The Spectator Australia, May 2:

It is 178 years since the last recorded charge of blasphemy in Scotland, against the Edinburgh bookseller Thomas Paterson for “exhibiting placards of a profane nature” in his shop window in 1842 … It’s not what you could call a current grievance, which hasn’t stopped the Scottish government from proposing to do away with the blasphemy law, modernisin­g it and extending it to cover discrimination against age, disabilit­y, race, religion and sexual orientation. Scottish Justice Minister Humza Yousaf said: “Stirring up of hatred can contribute to a social ­atmosphere in which discrimination is accepted as normal.”

Big News Network, April 8:

Asserting that Pakistan’s blasphemy laws lead to “grave miscarriages of justice”, a European think tank asked Pakistani authorities to urgently reform­ the blasphemy laws by repealing the existent provisions and drafting new legislation … Between 1987 and 2017, an estimated 1549 people have been charged under the dracon­ian blasphemy laws; for comparison, before 1986, only 14 cases had been reported. More than 70 cases of extra­judicial killings by vigilantes of those accused of blasphemy have taken place since the 1980s.

Advox website, May 1:

Mubarak Bala, a self-identified atheist, was arrested in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria, on March 29 for allegedly insulting­ the prophet Mohammed.

Abimbola Adelakun, Punch, May 7:

If the case against Bala sails through, Nigeria’s anti-blasphemy laws will be a fashioned weapon in the hands of those seeking to repress others. Unlik­e the mob, they are not going to be beheading people.

Blasphemy under disco lights. Coconuts Bali website, May 5:

A young woman in Central Lombok was apprehended by the authorities over her TikTok video, which may see her charged under Indonesia’s blasphemy law. Using a disco light filter for the video, 19-year-old Ria Erna­wanti donned (a cloak demonstrat­ing Islamic prayer) only to stop in the middle of it to dance to the beat of the music in the background.

Reuters, August 28, 2017:

Iran and Yemen have some of the most punitive laws criminalising blasphemy … Blasphemy (laws) are “astonishingly widespread” with many laying down disproportionate punishments ranging from prison sentences to lashings or the death penalty.

Ahmet T. Kuru, The Conversation, February 21:

Of 71 countries that criminalise blasphem­y, 32 are majority Muslim … Blasphemy is punishable by death in Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Brun­ei, Mauritania and Saudi Arabia.

Koran is silent. Qasim Rashid, The Independent, May 12, 2017:

This week in Indonesia, courts convicted­ Jakarta’s Governor Ahok of blasphemy: the governor, who is a Christian, faces a two-year prison sentence. Ahok’s crime? He rebuked claims by clerics that the Koran mandate­s Muslims to vote for a Muslim over a non-Muslim … The Koran prescribes no worldly punishment.

Blasphemous art? Fiona Patten, The Age, November 26 last year:

Blasphemy has not been prosecuted in Australia since 1919. However, in 1997 George Pell did seek an injunction against the National Gallery of Victoria … in relation to the display of the contentious Piss Christ by artist Andres Serrano.