Sharia Alert from…Central Europe. It has come to this: Susanne Winter faces an investigation and possibly two years in prison for speaking negatively about Muhammad and Islam. I wonder if, regarding Muhammad’s marriage to a nine-year-old and its value as an example for Muslim men and Islamic jurists, truth and accuracy could be a defense. And I also wonder if she would be facing similar prosecution for insulting Jesus and Christianity. What do you think?
“Austrian authorities investigate Islam-bashing by rightist lawmaker,” from Deutsche Presse Agentur (thanks to Marked Manner):
Vienna – Remarks by a right-wing politician denouncing Islam and accusing the Prophet Mohammed of having been a paedophile provoked widespread outrage in Austria on Monday, with authorities investigating whether they constituted hate speech.
Susanne Winter, a candidate for the Freedom Party in local elections in Graz in south-eastern Austria, said on Sunday that Mohammed’s marriage to a 6-year-old girl would make the prophet a ‘paedophile in today’s system.’
Speaking at a rally, Winter demanded that Islam should be ‘thrown back where it came from, beyond the Mediterranean Sea.’
Winter later justified her attacks. ‘There is widespread child abuse by Muslim men,’ she was quoted as saying by the newspaper Oesterreich.
‘Why can’t I say this? That has nothing to do with hate speech. We want neither Austrian nor foreign paedophiles. I did not want to incite hatred, or offend a religious community,’ she said.
Austria’s authorities were investigating whether Winter’s remarks constituted incitement to hatred, a spokesman from the prosecutor’s office said. If found guilty, Winter could face up to two years in prison.