An Austrian woman, who was prosecuted for ‘denigrating’ Muhammed because she proposed the consummation of his marriage when his ‘wife’ was nine-years-old was paedo-philia, asked the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) to retry the case in the Grand Chamber, it was reported in March.
She is supported by a petition of more than 55,000 signatories who want to ‘defend the right to criticise Islam in Europe’*. The retrying of a case is only considered in 5% of requests if ‘the case raises a serious question affecting the interpretation or application of the Convention or the Protocols thereto or a serious issue of general importance’.
In October, en reported that the ECHR had validated the conviction of the Austrian lecturer, Mrs Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, for saying ‘a man of 56 with a six-year-old girl … what is it, if not paedophilia?’ She had been speaking to 30 people at a seminar entitled ‘Elementary Knowledge of Islam’. A journalist present called her out on her comment; the account of the marriage is an historical fact. She was convicted on the basis of a criminal provision prohibiting blasphemy in substance. Demonstrating the regressive nature of the judgment, Pakistan welcomed the initial ruling of the ECHR.
The seven European judges considered that Mrs Sabaditsch-Wolff did not so much seek to inform the public objectively as ‘demonstrating that Muhammad was not a worthy subject of worship’. In support of this conviction, the Court held that insinuating that Muhammad was a ‘paedophile’ would be a ‘generalisation without factual basis’ on the grounds that he continued his relationship with Aisha for years and had married older women.
Spirit of tolerance
According to the Court, these remarks were ‘likely to arouse justified indignation’ of the Muslims and constitute ‘a malicious violation of the spirit of tolerance, which was one of the bases of a democratic society’ capable of ‘stirring up prejudice’ and ‘putting at risk religious peace’. These remarks could therefore be condemned for inciting religious intolerance.
