In late March, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) refused to refer the case of Mrs Sabaditsch-Wolff v Austria to the Grand Chamber to contest her conviction for stating that 56-year-old Mohammed consummating his marriage to his nine-year-old wife could be viewed as ‘paedophilia’.
When convicted in 2011 she was fined 480 euros and threatened with a custodial sentence for non-payment. After losing her appeal in Austria and then with the ECHR in late 2018, the case was referred to the Grand Chamber for review. The original conviction was on the basis of a criminal provision prohibiting blasphemy in substance.
Could this happen here?
The UK blasphemy law, which only applied to Christianity, was abolished in 2008. Currently, under hate speech laws which are found in several statutes, it is acceptable to criticise and ridicule religious beliefs, but not always to do the same to religious people. In contrast, the blasphemy law protected the religion, but not the person.
