The European Union muckety-mucks are now weighing how to curb press freedom in Europe - with criminal sanctions if necessary as a possible consequence. We're not there yet - but there's a worrying trend here. The lesson? If you threaten to kill people, you can get governments to respond. Turkey is proposing full-on theocratic censorship, which, in my view, should in itself bar Turkey from EU membership. One option European countries might want to pursue: all immigrants should be required to sign a declaration supporting the right of free speech, even blasphemous speech, as a condition of entering the West. Why not? Meanwhile, in London, we have the following:
"Anjem Choudhary, one of the leaders of the demonstration, refused to condemn the threat of another suicide attack in London on the scale of the July 7 bombings as a result of the perceived insult to Islam. 'I am not in the business of condoning or condemning,' he said. 'The fact is that 7/7 was brought upon the people of London and Britain by the foreign policy of Tony Blair. There is no reason why there should not be more suicide bombings in London.'
Passersby stopped police officers to ask why the marchers were being allowed to carry banners threatening further suicide attacks in the city. One police officer replied: 'Don't worry. We are photographing them.'"
So it's illegal in Britain to incite religious hatred; but it's legal to threaten innocent civilians with future massacres, dictated by Allah.