Beyond Charlie Hebdo: 'Blasphemy' penalized by Arab governments

UPI.com ^ | Jan. 9, 2015 at 1:51 PM | Andrew V. Pestano

[wtd]

Beyond Charlie Hebdo: 'Blasphemy' penalized by Arab governments

aws restricting apostasy and blasphemy are most common in the Middle East and North Africa, with penalties ranging from fines to death.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- As a terrorist attack on a satirical magazine in Paris illuminates the issue of press freedom, media in most of the Arab world are still shackled and can be brutally punished for "blasphemy" by their governments.

Even after the promise of new freedoms during the Arab Spring movement, all countries in the region are regarded as having press freedom situations that are "difficult" or "very serious," according to Reporters Without Borders.

Research released last spring from the Pew Research Center found that laws restricting apostasy and blasphemy are most common in the Middle East and North Africa, where 14 of the 20 countries criminalize blasphemy, and in 12 apostasy is a crime. Penalties range from fines to death.

Saudi Arabia strictly censors the media and the Internet with dire consequences.

[Savage Beast]

Evidently one can get jail time for blasphemy in Canada too.

[I am Richard Brandon]

Isn’t Obama an apostate by his own words?

[lavaroise]

Terror in Paris is only every day sharia religious police for them...

And yet we have judges thinking of adopting shariah courts, international laws and calling it all coexist.

[WayneS]

....media in most of the Arab world are still shackled and can be brutally punished for "blasphemy" by their governments.

That is expected in barbarian potentates; and I do not care what they do to each other in those hellholes. But they need to leave CIVILIZED countries alone.