Four Bangladesh bloggers charged with defaming Islam

[oberliner]

Source: Lebanon Daily Star

DHAKA: Four Bangladeshi bloggers are facing up to seven years in jail after they were charged in court Sunday with defaming Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, a prosecutor told AFP.

The four men, who deny the charges, were arrested earlier this year in the wake of nationwide protests in which Islamic groups demanded the execution of atheist online commentators.

Judge Zahirul Haque, sitting in a court in the capital Dhaka, said the bloggers were being charged under the country's Internet laws, senior public prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar told AFP.

"They have been indicted... with defaming Islam, the Prophet Mohammed and other religions through their Internet writings. They spread malice against all religions," he said.


Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/International/2013/Sep-08/230440-four-bangladesh-bloggers-charged-with-defaming-islam.ashx#axzz2eITslAkW

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Penalty for this crime is seven years in jail apparently.

[msongs]

1. religions and dead people cannot be defamed except in the world of the religiously insane nt

[oberliner]

3. Amen

Sadly "the world of the religiously insane" is enormous.

[JimboBillyBubbaBob]

11. Yeah,

it's one big arse place!

[samsingh]

12. amen

[David__77]

2. Imagine for a moment...

Imagine a mass political in the United States that demands the death penalty for blasphemy against Christianity, merely for some blog posts - much like those on this site. Imagine that through elections and mass mobilization, these forces have their hands on the levers of power...

That is the quandary - a basic problem - faced by progressives in the countries where theocracy (in the specific form of political Islamism) has taken hold. Normal democratic methods hold little hope, at least in the short term.

[oberliner]

4. What is the solution?

How does one work to combat that sort of ignorance?

[David__77]

5. I was talking to a man from Iran about this today.

Well, technically it was yesterday, but anyway... We were talking about how the the large majority of the self-identified left in Egypt breathed a collective sigh of relief when the army overthrew Morsi. We said that of course the army is the other side of the oppressive coin blah blah blah... But then I tried to put myself in the shoes of these people. It's a terrible scenario. Because the left is weak, Islamism is strong. And I have little doubt that if in the US a powerful TRULY theocratic movement achieved some power through elections, and the US armed forces subsequently intervened to repress it, the self-identified left in this country would also breath a collective sigh of relief.

The solution is very difficult and involves winning people over politically. I guess I am forgiving of those forces for making their tactical alliances in the interim, even if it's not a solution.

[delrem]

6. I think it depends on the history of God's little army.

By "God's little army" I mean the army that supplanted the Islamic "army" (or in your scenario the Christian "army&quot that was elected to power. The "Gods little army" that now basks in self-glorification. It's the same old army of course. Venal, mercenary, 2nd rate.

In no way did "God's little army" serve democracy, or freedom.

Sorry to disagree so thoroughly, because I (except in this *one* case) uniformly enjoy your postings.

[demosincebirth]

15. Not possible if you live in the ninth century

[starroute]

7. A big problem is the extent to which the US is responsible for this

Since the 1950s, the US has worked to destroy any kind of left-wing opposition in the Middle East (and other places) and also to undercut secular, nationalistic dictators on the model of Nasser -- because both those groups are inclined to nationalize oil reserves and other goodies when they come to power.

At the same time, the US has often thrownh its influence behind conservative religious movements which were seen as akin to the religious right in the US -- basically apolitical, subservient to authority, and not likely to make waves. But the unintended consequence of this was the rise of political Islam, because local populations and particularly the poor had been deprived of any other outlet for their aspirations for a better life.

Unfortunately, we're seeing the same pattern at work in Syria. The US is hell-bent on destroying Assad, who is pretty much the last of the old-style nationalistic dictators. It pays lip service to supporting "moderate" rebels, but you know it has no interest in any of the young idealists who might actually care about self-determination and the interests of the poor. And whether by design or default, if it gets its way, the result will be an al Qaeda-linked, fundamentalist state.

And of course we'll blame it on the Arabs yet again as not being "ready" for democracy, instead of recognizing that we've given them no choice.

[daleo]

9. Good points

[cosmicone]

8. I am glad

I belong to a religion that is not so fragile as to be defamed by blogs; nor is its god offended by cartoons.

[daleo]

10. "Demand the execution of atheists"

That's the kind of allies we are looking at supporting in Syria too.

[tabasco]

13. Backward savages

to allow this type of legal system

[Nye Bevan]

14. And here you can immerse a crucifix in urine and nothing happens to you.

Stories like this make me happy to be living in the United States.