3 years for defaming Islam.

http://www.amnestyusa.org/news/press...-of-expression

Religion and law should not be allowed to mix, this is why.

This is disgusting.

The guy has to be ******ed to be flaming Islam at a time where his country is moving towards becoming more extreme. Won't be surprised if he's dead within a month

It's also perfectly legal according to the UN Resolution (16/18) that bans criticism of Islam.

Criminalizing the Criticism of Islam

In Ireland last year it was made illegal to blaspheme with a fine of up to 26k Euros. I wonder if anyone in the Vatican is gazing wistfully at the paintings of them burning heretics at the stake during the hundreds of years when they tried to suppress all criticism of their doctrine.....

And we think we're becoming more civilised. Maybe we will, when we rid ourselves of religion.

Actually no, this is a non-binding resolution thus it contains no legal bearings. Prohibiting criticism of religion on the other hand, violates the UN Human Rights Charter, which is binding for member states.

This sounds strange to some (if something is binding it should be adhered to, right? And how can a UN body contradict UN charters?) , but it becomes a bit simpler once one realizes that international law doesn't really exist.

Or more readily... international law only exists as long as the involved legal parties recognize it. A good analogy is to imagine the UN as a criminal court, in which the defendant can merely say "I do not recognize this court's decision on this matter" and if he does, the court must let him go. This is essence, is the scope of UN power over member states.

Ok thanks for the clarification. Still pretty stunning that it even happened though isn't it.

Well, it is ridiculous that it happened... I agree.

But the unfortunate truth is that the number of liberal democracies in the world is shrinking, not increasing... and that one sees a continuous trend of less liberalism in the world's countries. The Arab Spring has had minimal effect, and the overarching trend in countries with predominantly Muslim populations is still one of authoritative regimes and unhealthy religious influence. Link to the 2011 Democracy index.

If the development continues, human rights is going to be a pretty fairy tale in not too many generations. Our time's version of ancient Athens. And it looks as though we get to blame it on crime, religion and corruption.

Stupid rules should be broken.

This is why the West needs to stay the hell away from these places...every time we topple some tinpot dictator, we end up with a bunch of religious fanatics in place instead who are a) worse and b) hate us.