Four of the Bangladeshi atheist bloggers have been charged with “defaming Islam” and other bullshit, and could get seven years in prison if they’re convicted, AFP reports.
Judge Zahirul Haque, sitting in a court in the capital Dhaka, said the bloggers were being charged under the country’s Internet laws, senior public prosecutor Shah Alam Talukdar told AFP.
“They have been indicted… with defaming Islam, the Prophet Mohammed and other religions through their Internet writings. They spread malice against all religions,” he said.
What can one say? That should never be a crime. It was normal to treat it as a crime all over Europe a few centuries ago, but we should have learned better by now. Learning better is a ratchet, and it’s shareable and universalizable, so “defaming” religions should never be treated as a crime. Religion should be voluntary.
The government has said it is determined to ensure communal harmony in the deeply conservative country where 90 percent people are Muslims.
Oh yes, “communal harmony,” meaning, everyone does what the majority demands.