Posted on 02/06/2011 6:50:27 AM PST by KyGeezer
The "hate speech" trial of Lars Hedegaard, the president of the Danish Free Press Society and the International Free Press Society, began in a courthouse near Copenhagen on January 24. Hedegaard, who has been charged with "racism" for critical comments he made about Islam, faces up to two years in prison.
Hedegaard's trial, which is similar to recent or current ones in Austria, Finland, France, Italy and the Netherlands, represents a landmark case that will establish the limits of free speech in a country where the politically correct elite routinely seek to silence public discussion about the growing problem of Muslim immigration. The trial also exemplifies the increasing use of lawfare: the malicious use of European courts to silence criticism of Islam.
Hedegaard's legal problems began in December 2009, when he remarked in a taped interview that there was a high incidence of child rape and domestic violence in areas dominated by Muslim culture. Although Hedegaard has insisted that he did not intend to accuse all Muslims or even the majority of Muslims of such crimes, Denmark's thought police have refused to drop the case.
Instead, the Danish public prosecutor's office says Hedegaard is guilty of violating Article 266b of the Danish penal code, which states: "Whoever publicly or with the intent of public dissemination issues a pronouncement or other communication by which a group of persons are threatened, insulted or denigrated due to their race, skin colour, national or ethnic origin, religion or sexual orientation is liable to a fine or incarceration for up to two years."
On December 3, 2010, a Danish court found Jesper Langballe, a Danish politician and Member of Parliament, guilty of hate speech for saying that honor killings and sexual abuse take place in Muslim families.
(Excerpt) Read more at hudson-ny.org ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawfare
Europe really is not a free society.
Don’t think it can’t happen here. Diversity is pretty much the State Religion here too. The population has been conditioned to regard ‘racist’ (with racist being defined by the Left of course) speech as an unforgivable offense.
We may not have examples like this one yet, but Hate Crime laws are the first step to criminalizing thought and speech, and we have those now at both the state and federal level. We can be sure that the Republican party will be worthless in defending free speech against Diversity-worship. And even if they stun us and do mount a vigorous and effective defense of free speech, current demographic trends will eventually make it almost impossible for Republicans to hold power in Washington. And once the Left gets an outright majority on the Supreme Court, then there will be nothing stopping these types of trials here in the US as well.
The Cold War ended 20 years ago. Why the USA stays in NATO and guarantees they security of 35+ nations is beyond me.
Chilling. What then are these countries doing to see to it that these ‘protections’ are reciprocal, say for Christians in Mohammadan countries or Whites in predominantly non-White countries?
“Europe really is not a free society.”
Neither are we anymore. Just count up the number of times each day when you are conscious of a societal restriction on what you say or how you say it. You would be surprised.
I was just thinking about Monty Python’s parodies of religion. John Cleese would probably have a Fatwa against him had the target of any of that humor been Islam.
Oklahoma passed a referendum to amend the state constitution barring use of Sharia and international law in our state courts. The hand wringers are suing and trying to keep it from being implemented.
The bad guys are using the laws of nations who have rule of law against those nations.
Socialism inevitabbly l;eads to Slavery. Europes leaders have chosen to enslave themselves.
Radical islam is real islam.
“Moderate” islam is real islam’s trojan horse.
Of course they are. The only real hope for conservative principles are in states like Oklahoma where demographic trends aren’t totally disastrous for the GOP. The Left cannot tolerate public expressions by the people of their will like happened in Oklahoma.
Of course in the Oklahoma situation the true solution is to simply not allow Muslim immigration to the US.
“Langballe was denied the opportunity to prove his allegations because, under Danish law, it is immaterial whether a statement is true or false. All that is needed for a conviction is for someone to feel offended. “
WOW! I’m offended! Can I sue?
Everyone should read the article at the link! Astonishing, really.
If they can just tweak their penal code slightly, and replace "incarceration for up to two years" with "burial up to waste, then public stoning", their transformation will be complete.
Don’t think it can’t happen here.
Burial up to waste sounds punitive enough. What kind of waste?
Europe should have a free speech like America, and yes that should include those that choose to denied the historical fact of the Holocaust.
Well said. Been happening here for years. Wished more people knew it.
NATO is meant to ensure the stability of the Globalist power structure. It held the Soviets in check one time. Now it provides the glue that holds the American-European-Arab financial structure together. It's got nothing to do with the security of everyday Americans.
Neither is the US. There are no free societies on Earth as long as islam exists.
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