by Jules Gomes, Middle East Forum
Judgment Critical as U.K. Parliament Considers ‘Islamophobia’ Definition
A British court has ruled in favor of a Christian street preacher prosecuted by the police on charges of blaspheming against the Qur’an,Islam, and its founder, Muhammad.
The judgment is a major setback for the Labour government and its Islamist supporters, who are attempting to implement a “blasphemy law” that would limit criticism of Islam by imposing a wide-ranging and disputed definition of “Islamophobia.”
The Christian Legal Centre said on Monday that Judge G. Kelly had thrown out the case against evangelist Karandeep Mamman at Wolverhampton Crown Court because the prosecution had failed to bring evidence against the preacher under section 4A of the Public Order Act.
The law prohibits a person from causing “harassment, alarm or distress” by using “threatening, abusive or insulting words or behavior,” or displaying “any writing, sign or other visible representation which is threatening, abusive or insulting.”
Mamman, who is keeping a low profile to avoid further harassment, was accused of insulting Islam and arrested by the police after an Islamist mob of 20-30 men and women threatened to kill him when they heard him preaching against Islam in Walsall town center in the West Midlands, England, on January 14, 2023.
“Forming a ring around him, Mamman said the group threatened to take him away, beat him up and ‘cut his throat,’” the CLC reported. The threats were made after Mamman had said that the Qur’an presents a false Jesus by presenting him as a prophet rather than the Son of God.
CCTV footage showed the Islamist mob assaulting and harassing the preacher for criticizing the Qur’an. A witness said that Mamman “wanted to leave but the mob would not let him go.” The mob followed Mamman and only allowed him to go after town center security appeared.