European Court Rules Against Free Speech; in Favor of Islam

 Written by  James Murphy  Monday, 29 October 2018 


Europe took another step toward sharia law last Thursday when it ruled that an individual’s right to free speech did not extend to "insulting" the Prophet Mohammed. The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) upheld the conviction of an Austrian woman who was fined for relating scripturally based behavior of the prophet to pedophilia.
The Austrian woman, known only as E.S., said during two seminars in 2009 that the Prophet Mohammed’s marriage to six-year-old Aisha at a time when the prophet would have been in his 50s was akin to pedophilia. The Koran states that the marriage was not consummated until Aisha reached the age of nine.

E.S. reportedly told the seminar attendees, “Muhammad liked to do it with children,” and also stated, “A 56-year old and a six-year-old … what do we call it, if it’s not pedophilia?”
The defendant argued that her comments fell within her right to free expression and that religions must be able to allow some criticism of their teachings. She further stated that the comments were not meant to defame Mohammed but to ignite public debate.

E.S. was originally found guilty in a Vienna court in 2011 and ordered to pay a €480 ($547) fine. An Austrian appeals court upheld the original decision.

From the ECHR ruling: “By accusing Muhammad of pedophilia, [E.S.] had merely sought to defame him, without providing evidence that his primary sexual interest in Aisha had been her not yet having reached puberty or that his other wives or concubines had been similarly young. In particular, [E.S.] disregarded the fact that the marriage with Aisha had continued until the Prophet’s death, when she had already turned eighteen and had therefore passed the age of puberty.”