Although the trial of Dutch MP and critic of Islam, Geert Wilders, and its serious implications for free speech in Europe, is once again creating a furor in the press, another high-profile trial of a critic of Islam -- Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff, in Austria -- is being overlooked.
Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff now faces up to a three-year prison sentence if convicted of "inciting hatred against a religious group" and "defamation of religion" in a lecture in 2009 on the "Islamization of Europe."
As allegedly criminal statements fill the indictments of "hate speech" prosecutions, as in the case with Mr. Wilders, the Dutch MP says that he spoken the truth, and the truth cannot be illegal.
If the authorities in the states of the EU have taken note of this axiom, the Viennese state attorney has not. He has taken an even more sinister approach to prosecuting Mrs. Sabaditsch-Wolff: No statements are listed in the indictment. Instead, her entire three-part seminar has been designated as incriminating.
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In line with Pax Europa, Mrs. Sabaditsch-Wolff is primarily concerned about manifestations of sharia law in Europe.
Although it may seem more practical to focus solely on Austria, she raises an important point: What happens in one European Union member state affects the others.
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Mrs. Sabaditsch-Wolff says she is "baffled" that in democratic, Western nation states, she and others should find themselves being prosecuted for criticizing political Islam.
Full article here: Hudson New York
