The End of Free Expression in Europe

Speaking of freedom of expression, an Austrian woman has been convicted of speaking ill, that is, of blaspheming the Prophet Mohammed. She called him a pedophile, and in today’s enlightened liberal Europe such expressions are forbidden.

The woman was convicted in Austria. Her conviction was upheld by the European Court of Human Rights.

The Daily Mail reports:

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled a woman convicted by an Austrian court of calling the Prophet Mohammed a paedophile did not have her freedom of speech rights infringed.

The woman, named only as Mrs. S, 47, from Vienna, was said to have held two seminars in which she discussed the marriage between the Prophet Mohammad and a six-year old girl, Aisha.

According to scripture the marriage was consummated when Aisha was just nine years old, leading Mrs S. to say to her class Mohammad 'liked to do it with children'.

She also reportedly said '... A 56-year-old and a six-year-old? ... What do we call it, if it is not paedophilia?'

Mrs S. was later convicted in February 2011 by the Vienna Regional Criminal Court for disparaging religious doctrines and ordered her to pay a fine of 480 euros plus legal fees.

After having her case thrown out by both the Vienna Court of Appeal and Austria's Supreme Court, the European Court of Human rights backed the courts' decision to convict Mrs S. on Thursday.

On what grounds did the court find against the woman?

On the grounds that speaking ill of the Prophet Mohammed would hurt the feelings of Austrian Muslims and thus would provoke public disorder. So much for free expression.

We are living in a world where great Western judges follow a higher law-- the sensitivities of Muslims. Judges shut down free speech because they have become completely terrorized by certain segments of the Muslim communities.

Thus the great tradition of Western freedom of expression has been compromised by raw and cowardly fear. Thus has Western culture been undermined by people who refuse to accept its founding principles. Tell us again why we should open our doors to everyone, indiscriminately.

The Daily Mail continues:

The ECHR found there had been no violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In a statement on Thursday the ECHR said: 'The Court found in particular that the domestic courts comprehensively assessed the wider context of the applicant’s statements and carefully balanced her right to freedom of expression with the right of others to have their religious feelings protected, and served the legitimate aim of preserving religious peace in Austria.'

Once upon a time, certain judges and justices in the American legal system decided that they should not just judge cases by the rule of American law, but should also make use of international law, the kind the European courts concoct.