"No person shall be convicted of an offence under this section for expressing in good faith and in decent language, or attempting to establish by argumentOver the summer of 2016, a petition to Parliament asking that the blasphemous libel law be repealed was circulated by several Canadian humanist groups.[17] The petition was presented to the Government in December 2016. It responded in January 2017, stating that "blasphemous libel, along with numerous other provisions of the Criminal Code, are presently under review by the Minister [of Justice] and her officials".[18][19] On 6 June 2017, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould introduced Bill C-51 in the House of Commons, an Act to Amend the Criminal Code including repeal of section 296 of the Criminal Code relating to blasphemous libel and various other provisions of the Criminal Code which have been ruled or may be unconstitutional.[20] The Bill passed both the House of Commons and the Senate on 11 December 2018.[21] On 13 December 2018, the Governor General formally granted Royal Assent, making the repeal official.[22][23][24]
Denmark
In Finland, section 10 of chapter 17 of the Criminal Code relate to blasphemy. The section is titled "Breach of the sanctity of religion", but the law text explicitly mentions "publicly blaspheming against God".[31][32] Unsuccessful attempts were made to rescind the section in 1914, 1917, 1965, 1970, and 1998.[33]
The writer Hannu Salama was convicted of blasphemy for his 1964 novel Juhannustanssit.[34] In 1969 Harro Koskinen was prosecuted and fined for works including his painting Pig Messiah, a
In Finland, section 10 of chapter 17 of the Criminal Code relate to blasphemy. The section is titled "Breach of the sanctity of religion", but the law text explicitly mentions "publicly blaspheming against God".[31][32] Unsuccessful attempts were made to rescind the section in 1914, 1917, 1965, 1970, and 1998.[33]
The writer Hannu Salama was convicted of blasphemy for his 1964 novel Juhannustanssit.[34] In 1969 Harro Koskinen was prosecuted and fined for works includ
The writer Hannu Salama was convicted of blasphemy for his 1964 novel Juhannustanssit.[34] In 1969 Harro Koskinen was prosecuted and fined for works including his painting Pig Messiah, a crucified pig; the works were later displayed in museums.[35]
Church-And-State committee came to a conclusion in 1977 that blasphemy should be removed from the Criminal Code. They suggested that instead of blasphemy the law should be against harassing people's right to believe. Since 1999 the section 10 of chapter 17 of the Criminal Code has been as the Church And State -committee suggested.
Jussi Halla-aho, who later became a Member of the Parliament of Finland, was fined for making connections between pedophilia and Islam in his 2008 blog text.[36]
The definition of "blasphemy" was introduced into French law in the 13th century (after great debate among the French Moralists), based on the definition given by St. Thomas Aquinas: a sin of language, "a failure to declare one's faith", thus representing an attack on the purity of religion. This justified punishment by law, which became extreme during the reign of Louis IX. Later canonized by the Catholic church as Saint Louis, he became obsessed in his fight against heretics, Jews and Muslims, and set the punishment for blasphemy to mutilation of the tongue and lips.[37] Louis IX passed this law against blasphemy in 1254 after his return home from the Seventh Crusade.[38]
At the beginning of the French Revolution, articles 10 and 11 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of At the beginning of the French Revolution, articles 10 and 11 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen)[39] motivated the 1791 elimination of the notion of blasphemy from French law, but it continued to prohibit the use of abusive language or disturbance of the peace. Sacrilege actions towards cultual objects became a crime in 1825 during an extreme phase of the Bourbon Restoration (1814), to be revoked under the less conservative Louis Philippe in 1830. "Religious insult" ("outrage à la morale religieuse ") was introduced by the Act of 17 May 1819, and definitively removed from French law by the Act of 29 July 1881 which instituted freedom of the press.[40] As of 2018[update], and since the 1972 ratification of the European Convention of Human Rights, French law proscribed hate or violence against, and slander or libel against, people due to their membership of a religious group, nationality, ethnic group, race, sexual orientation or handicap (Art.23, 24, 32). The Act of 1881 protects individuals and groups of individuals against defamation or insult ("injure " and "outrage " for foreign ambassadors), but not the divinities ((in French) like Jesus Christ) and their doctrines as for blasphemy.
The Alsace-Moselle region was a specific exception, as it was annexed to Germany from 1871 to 1918 and therefore not part of France when the "religious insult" law was repealed. The German penal code replaced the pre-1871 French law between 1871 and 1918, and the local law in Alsace-Moselle retained some elements of both the German penal code and pre-1871 French law when the regions reverted to France in 1919, like the religious legislation and the articles 166 and 167. This long included a ban of "blasphemy " (as translated from the German word "lästerung ") against Christianity and Judaism, without mention of Islam which at the time had very few followers in Alsace.[41] Since the dispositions of article 166 were not among those finally transposed officially in French law since the Act of 1 June 1924, whose article 1 and 1 s) introduced as well in Alsace-Moselle the generally referred to Act of 29 July 1881,[42] then translated into French in 2013 by the decrees n•2013-395 and particularly n•2013-776,[43][44][45] they received no application since then, as the appeal court of Colmar refused to apply this article in 1954, contrary to article 167 (obstacle to the exercise of worship). The minister of justice replied to some senators that article 166 was already implicitly repealed because contrary to the French fundamental law.[46] Its validity could have also been questioned by a court since 1975 and by a prioritary question of constitutionality since 2008. In response to the Charlie Hebdo attack and with the full support of the Alsatian churches, an October 2016 vote of the French parliament symbolically repealed this long-dormant Alsace-Moselle "blasphemy" law[47] which was long implicitly unenforceable.[48]
In Germany, religious defamation is covered by Article 166 of the Strafgesetzbuch, the German criminal law. If a deed is capable of disturbing the public peace, defamation is actionable. The article reads as follows:[49]
- § 166 Defamation of religious denominations, religious societies and World view associations
- (1) Whoever publicly or by dissemination of writings (Â
In 2006, the application of this article received much media attention when a Manfred van H. (also known as "Mahavo") was prosecuted for defamation for distributing rolls of toilet paper with the words "Koran, the Holy Koran" stamped on them.[50][51][52] The defendant claimed he wanted to protest the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004 and the London bombings of 2005. Beyond the sentence he also received death threats from Islamists and needed a police bodyguard.[52]
Greece
Articles 198, 199, and 201 of the Greek Penal Code create offences which involve blasphemy. Article 198 "Malicious Blasphemy" provides:
- 1. One who...blasphemes God shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years.
- 2. [O]ne who...manifests a lack of respect for the divinity shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three months.[53]
Article 199 "Blasphemy Concerning Religions" restates most of Article 198, and criminalizes blasphemy against the Greek Orthodox
Articles 198, 199, and 201 of the Greek Penal Code create offences which involve blasphemy. Article 198 "Malicious Blasphemy" provides:
- 1. One who...blasphemes God shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years.
- 2. [O]ne who...manifests a lack of respect for the divinity shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than three months.[53]
Article 201 criminalizes acts committed "blasphemously and improperly toward a grave".[53]
Greece has not used its laws about blasphemy to protect any religion other than the Greek Orthodox Church, which is the state church of Greece.[53]
Greece has not used its laws about blasphemy to protect any religion other than the Greek Orthodox Church, which is the state church of Greece.[53]
In December 2003, Greece prosecuted for blasphemy Gerhard Haderer, an Austrian, along with his Greek publisher and four booksellers. Haderer is the author of an illustrated, humorous book entitled The Life of Jesus. The prosecutor contended that the book's depiction of Jesus as a hippie was blasphemous. On 13 April 2005, the Court of Appeal of Athens, reversed the judgment of the Court of First Instance, and acquitted Haderer.[54]
Greece complements its laws against blasphemy with laws against "religious insult". The laws forbid the creation, display or trade in work that "insults public sentiment" or that "offends people's religious sentiments". The right to redress for a religious insult has so far been restricted to Christians.[55][56]
Article 3.3 of the Greek constitutions prohibits translating the text of the Holy Scripture "into any other form of language, without prior sanction by the Autocephalous Church of Greece and the Great Church of Christ in Constantinople."[57]
The new Criminal Code, which came into force in July 2019, under the Syriza government, removed articles 198 and 199, thus ending its ban on blasphemy.[58]
The conservative New Democracy government initially announced in November its intention to reintroduce the criminalization of blasphemy, with punishment up to two years in jail [2][3][59][60] but backtracked on the announcement following a domestic and international outcry.[4]
The Icelandic blasphemy law was repealed on 2 July 2015, after a strong push by the Icelandic Pirate Party and a number of associations including Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association (Siðmennt), the bishop of Iceland, the Icelandic priesthood, the Association of Publishers, PEN Iceland, IMMI (The International Modern Media Institute) an Icelandic-based international organization of information and freedom of expression, and an atheist group called Vantrú.[61] Formerly, blasphemy was forbidden with a fine or prison sentence up to three months (Article 125 of the General Penal Code of Iceland, enacted on 12 February 1940).[62] The constitution also mentions the state religion and religion in general.[citation needed]
Ireland
In Ireland, blasphemy against any form of religion was prohibited by the 2009 Defamation Act until its repeal on 17 January 2020.[63] Blasphemy against Christianity was prohibited by the constitution and carried a maximum fine of €25,000; however, the offence of blasphemous libel, last prosecuted in 1855 in connection to an alleged Bible-burning,[64] was ruled in 1999 to be incompatible with the Constitution's guarantee of religious equality. A controversial law was passed on 9 July 2009 and went into effect on 1 January 2010.[65] The law prohibited publishing or uttering "matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion".[63]
The Irish Constitutional Convention in 2013 recommended, and the Government endorsed, the repeal of the constitutional prohibition on blasphemy (Article 40.6.1.i.), but the Taoiseach indicated to postpone the issue.[66] Suggestions in 2014 to hold a referendum on the matter have so far not materialized.[67] Calls for repeal resurged after the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting.[66]
The law had not been invoked until in February 2015 English comedian Stephen Fry, when asked during an RTÉ programme what he might say to God at the gates of heaven, responded, without specifying any religion,
"I'd say: 'Bone cancer in children, what's that about? How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there
The Irish Constitutional Convention in 2013 recommended, and the Government endorsed, the repeal of the constitutional prohibition on blasphemy (Article 40.6.1.i.), but the Taoiseach indicated to postpone the issue.[66] Suggestions in 2014 to hold a referendum on the matter have so far not materialized.[67] Calls for repeal resurged after the January 2015 Charlie Hebdo shooting.[66]
The law had not been invoked until in February 2015 English comedian Stephen Fry, when asked during an RTÉ programme what he might say to God at the gates of heaven, responded, without specifying any religion,
"I'd say: 'Bone cancer in children, what's that about? How dare you? How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that is not our fault? It's not right. It's utterly, utterly evil. Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid god who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?' That's what I'd say (...) the god who created this universe, if it was created by a god, is quite clearly a maniac, an utter maniac, totally selfish (...)"[68]
An allegation of blasphemy was made to police at the time, and in 2017 police contacted Fry to inform him that the incident was being investigated.[69][70] News of the investigation caused a big stir, but a few days later it was reported that the police, the Garda SÃochána, had dropped the case as there was no injured party.[71] The Garda SÃochána could not find enough people outraged over the actor's anti-God remarks. One individual complaint alone cannot result in a prosecution under the legislation and only one viewer made a formal complaint against Fry's comments. The complainant said that he was not personally offended by the programme but simply believed that the comments made by Fry on RTÉ were criminal blasphemy and that he was doing his civic duty by reporting a crime.[72]
In June 201
In June 2018, the Irish government agreed to a referendum to remove the offense of blasphemy from the Constitution. The referendum, which took place on 26 October 2018, abolished the constitutional ban on blasphemy by a margin of 64.85% to 35.15%.[64] Until the offence was repealed by the Minister of Justice and Equality Charles Flanagan in January 2020,[73] blasphemy was prohibited by sections 36 and 37 of the Defamation Act 2009, for which offenders could face a fine of up to €25,000.[74][64]
In Italy, under article 724 of the Penal Code, blasphemy in public is considered an "administrative offense" and punished with a fine ranging from €51 to €309.
First introduced in 1930 under Mussolini, blasphemy was decriminalized as per art.57, d.lgs. n.507 of 30 December 1999.
Following a ruling of the Corte Costituzionale in sentence n.440 of 18 October 1995, the law punishes only blasphemy against the "Deity".[75] Article 404 of the penal code also punishes public offenses to religion, and has been invoked against artists using religious imagery in satirical art.[76]
At the end of July 2019, public blasphemy was also made illegal on the local level in the Italian town of Saonara, punishing alleged blasphemers with a fine of €400.[77]At the end of July 2019, public blasphemy was also made illegal on the local level in the Italian town of Saonara, punishing alleged blasphemers with a fine of €400.[77][78]
Instead of a law against blasphemy, Malta had laws against the vilification of religion, and against immorality. Enacted in 1933, Article 163 of Malta's Criminal Code prohibited "vilification of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion",[79] which is Malta's state religion. Vilification of Malta's religion made the vilifier liable to imprisonment for a term from one to six months. By Article 164, vilification of any cult "tolerated by law" made the vilifier liable to imprisonment for a term from one to three months. Article 338(bb) imposes liability upon anyone who, "even though in a state of intoxication, publicly utters any obscene or indecent words, or makes obscene acts or gestures, or in any other manner not otherwise provided for in this Code, offends against public morality, propriety or decency". Article 342 provides:
- In respect of the contravention under article 338(bb), where the act consists in uttering blasphemous words or expressions, the minimum punishment to be awarded shall in no case be less than a fine (amenda) of eleven euro and sixty-five cents (11.65) and the maximum punishment ma
In 2008, criminal procedures were initiated against 621 people for blaspheming in public.[80]
In July 2016, the parliament of Malta repealed articles 163 and 164 of the criminal code, the country's blasphemy laws.[81][82]
[81][82]
Nigeria prohibits blasphemy by section 204 of its Criminal Code and by permitting Sharia courts to operate in some states.[83][84] Vigilantism frequently usurps the jurisdiction of the courts.[85]
Netherlands
Dutch Criminal Code of 1881, in force since 1886, the
Netherlands obtained its first law against blasphemy. The Minister of Justice argued that, although God would be perfectly capable of protecting his own rights, the Dutch legislator had to 'protect the rights of society'.
[86]
In 1932, a bill was proposed to tighten the 1886 law. Parliament was divided between confessional and non-confessional parties, but also between different confessional parties on the question whether the purpose of the bill was protecting God or religion, or religious people. The bill passed on 1 June 1932 with 49 against 44 votes in the House, 28 against 18 votes in the Senate, and was adopted on 4 November 1932.[87]
Article 147 punished (by up to three months in jail or a fine of the second category (i.e. up to €3,800[88])) anyone who publicly, orally or in writing or depiction, offends religious feelings by scornful blasphemy.[89] Furthermore, article 429bis prohibited displaying blasphemous material at places visible from the public road.[90] The law came into being in the 1930s after the Communist Party called for Christmas to be dropped from the list of state holidays.[91] The last successful conviction under Article 147 took place in the early 1960s when a student newspaper was fi
In 1932, a bill was proposed to tighten the 1886 law. Parliament was divided between confessional and non-confessional parties, but also between different confessional parties on the question whether the purpose of the bill was protecting God or religion, or religious people. The bill passed on 1 June 1932 with 49 against 44 votes in the House, 28 against 18 votes in the Senate, and was adopted on 4 November 1932.[87]
Article 147 punished (by up to three months in jail or a fine of the second category (i.e. up to €3,800[88])) anyone who publicly, orally or in writing or depiction, offends religious feelings by scornful blasphemy.[89] Furthermore, article 429bis prohibited displaying blasphemous material at places visible from the public road.[90] The law came into being in the 1930s after the Communist Party called for Christmas to be dropped from the list of state holidays.[91] The last successful conviction under Article 147 took place in the early 1960s when a student newspaper was fined 100 guilders for satirizing the New Testament.[91] The law against blasphemy complements laws against racial discrimination and incitement to violence.[citation needed]
In 1966, the Public Prosecution Service prosecuted writer Gerard Reve under Article 147. In his novel Nader tot U ("Nearer to Thee"), Reve describes the narrator's sexual intercourse with God, who is incarnated in a donkey. The court of first instance convicted Reve, but he appealed. In April 1968, an appeals court quashed the conviction.[92][93] This effectively made the Dutch blasphemy law dead letter.
In November 2008, Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin expressed the country's coalition government's intent to repeal Article 147.[92] He said the government would strengthen the legislation against discrimination to prohibit any insult to any group of people.[94] In May 2009, the government decided to leave the law as it is. The decision followed a high court ruling in which a man who had put up a poster that read "stop the tumour that is Islam" was found not guilty of insulting a group of people on the grounds of their religion.[94] The decision not to abolish the ban on blasphemy was partly motivated to ensure the support of the orthodox Christian SGP for the minority government in the senate. After a general election in 2012, a new coalition government was formed and a majority of parliament pledged to support a proposal to repeal the blasphemy law.[95]
In November 2012, parliament decided to overturn the blasphemy laws.[96] It would pass with support from the VVD, but the fundamentalist Christian group SGP were strongly opposed to the measure. According to the SGP, the decision to lift the ban on blasphemy is a "painful loss of a moral anchor and a symptom of a spiritual crisis".
On 1 February 2014, the law on blasphemy was officially abolished.[97][98]
In New Zealand, Section 123[99] of the Crimes Act 1961 allowed for imprisonment of up to one year for anyone who published any "blasphemous libel". Cases were only prosecuted at the discretion of the New Zealand Attorney-General, who usually cited overriding free speech objections so as not to pursue such a case. The only prosecution for blasphemous libel in New Zealand was the case of John Glover, publisher of the newspaper The Maoriland Worker, in 1922. Glover was acquitted.
The British comedy film Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) about a fictional Jewish man living at the same time and neighbourhood as Jesus Christ, generated significant international controversy and was banned in several countries including Ireland and Norway. Hundreds of letters were sent to the Film Censor's Office to have the film banned in New Zealand as well on the grounds of it being 'blasphemous' against the Christian faith, but the Chief Censor of Films responded by stating that they had found no evidence of blasphemy or sacrilegiousness in the film.
In March 2018, Justice Minister Andrew Little (Labour Party) introduced a Crimes Amendment Bill that included repeal of Section 123, the crime of blasphemous libel. The bill passed the third reading on 5 March 2019 with the unanimous support of parliament, received the royal assent on 11 March and came into force on 12 March 2019.[100] An earlier Labour repeal attempt in 2017 was blocked by the then governing National Party.[101]
Norway
In 2009, the Norwegian Parliament voted to remove the dormant law against blasphemy (§ 142
The British comedy film Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) about a fictional Jewish man living at the same time and neighbourhood as Jesus Christ, generated significant international controversy and was banned in several countries including Ireland and Norway. Hundreds of letters were sent to the Film Censor's Office to have the film banned in New Zealand as well on the grounds of it being 'blasphemous' against the Christian faith, but the Chief Censor of Films responded by stating that they had found no evidence of blasphemy or sacrilegiousness in the film.
In March 2018, Justice Minister Andrew Little (Labour Party) introduced a Crimes Amendment Bill that included repeal of Section 123, the crime of blasphemous libel. The bill passed the third reading on 5 March 2019 with the unanimous support of parliament, received the royal assent on 11 March and came into force on 12 March 2019.[100] An earlier Labour repeal attempt in 2017 was blocked by the then governing National Party.[101]
In 2009, the Norwegian Parliament voted to remove the dormant law against blasphemy (§ 142 in the penal code).[102] It was, however, removed from the penal code of 2005, which did not come into force until October 2015.[103] Therefore, blasphemy was illegal until 2015 under the old Penal Code of 1902.[102][104]
The famous writer and social activist Arnulf Øverland was the last to be tried by this law, in 1933,[105] after giving a speech named "Kristendom
The famous writer and social activist Arnulf Øverland was the last to be tried by this law, in 1933,[105] after giving a speech named "Kristendommen – den tiende landeplage" ("Christianity – the tenth plague"), but was acquitted. The last person sentenced for blasphemy in Norway was Arnfred Olsen in 1912, and he had to pay a fine of 10 Norwegian krone.[106]
The British comedy film Monty Python's Life of Brian (1979) was briefly banned in Norway by the authorities in early 1980, because it 'was believed to commit the crime of blasphemy by violating people's religious feelings'. However, the ban was lifted in October 1980 after a group of theologians who had seen the film produced a statement saying that there was no good reason for a total ban. Life of Brian was allowed on the big screen, provided with a poster at the beginning which stated that Brian was not Jesus.[107] It was then marketed in Sweden as "The film so funny that it was banned in Norway".[108]
"Crimes against religious worship" are stated under section four of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines. Under article 132 and 133, respectively, "interruption of religious worship" and "offending the religious feelings" are punishable by law. "Interruption of religious worship" is defined as "preventing or disturbing the ceremonies or manifestations of any religion" and "offending the religious feelings" is defined as "performing acts notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful" in a place devoted to religious worship or during the celebration of any religious ceremony.[109]
Penalties range from imprisonment of four months and a day to six months; crimes that involve violence or threats can carry a penalty of up to six years in jail.
Poland
[151]
Algeria
Algeria's population is Sunni Muslim, and the Constitution declares that Islam is the state religion, Algeria uses retaliatory legislation rather than Sharia to combat blasphemy against Islam. The penalty for blasphemy can be up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine.[152][better source needed]
Bangladesh
Bangladesh forbids blasphemy by a provision in its penal code that prohibits "hurting religious sentiments", and by other laws and policies that attack freedom of speech.[153]
In April 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected calls for new laws from radical Islamist groups, notably Hefajat-e Islam, demanding death penalty for people involved in blasphemy. She described Bangladesh as a "secular democracy, where every religion had a right to be practiced freely and fairly", and that "if anyone was found guilty of hurting the sentiments of the followers of any religion or its venerable figures, there was a law to deal with it".[154][155][156]
Egypt
Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code, as amended by Law
Bangladesh forbids blasphemy by a provision in its penal code that prohibits "hurting religious sentiments", and by other laws and policies that attack freedom of speech.[153]
In April 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected calls for new laws from radical Islamist groups, notably Hefajat-e Islam, demanding death penalty for people involved in blasphemy. She described Bangladesh as a "secular democracy, where every religion had a right to be practiced freely and fairly", and that "if anyone was found guilty of hurting the sentiments of the followers of any religion or its venerable figures, there was a law to deal with it".[154][155][156]
Egypt
Article 98(f) of the Egypti
Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code, as amended by Law 147/2006 states the penalty for blasphemy and similar crimes:
Confinement for a period of not less than six months and not exceeding five years, or a fine of not less than five hundred pounds and not exceeding one thousand pounds shall be
Confinement for a period of not less than six months and not exceeding five years, or a fine of not less than five hundred pounds and not exceeding one thousand pounds shall be the penalty inflicted on whoever makes use of religion in propagating, either by words, in writing, or in any other means, extreme ideas for the purpose of inciting strife, ridiculing or insulting a heavenly religion or a sect following it, or damaging national unity.[157]
Indonesia
An Islamic theocracy, Iran derives its law against blasphemy from Sharia. The law against blasphemy complements laws against criticizing the Islamic government, insulting Islam, and publishing materials that deviate from Islamic standards.[161]
Jordan
Article 273 of Jordan's Penal Code criminalizes "scorning or reviling any of the Prophets" with imprisonment for up to three years. While article 278 criminalizes "publishing anything that would insult the religious feelings or religious beliefs of other people".[162]
Kuwait
Article 6 of Kuwait's cybercrime laws mention a punishment of up to 12 months in prison and a 20,000 KWD (US$66,000) fine for insulting "God, the Holy Quran, Prophets, the Noble Companions of Prophet Muhammad, Wives of the Prophet, or persons who are part of the Prophet’s family".[163]
Malaysia
Malaysia prevents insult to religion and to the religious by education, by restrictions upon the broadcasting and publishing media, and by the legal system. Some states in the Malaysian federation operate Sharia courts to protect Islam, and, when Sharia is not applicable, the Malaysian Penal Code provides penalties for offenses against religion.[164]
Mauritania
The crime of apostasy is defined in section IV (entitled Act of Indecency toward Islam) of the Mauritanian Penal Code, established under the order of 9 July 19
An Islamic theocracy, Iran derives its law against blasphemy from Sharia. The law against blasphemy complements laws against criticizing the Islamic government, insulting Islam, and publishing materials that deviate from Islamic standards.[161]
Jordan
