|
Follow the Middle East Forum
|
|
UK
Man Sentenced for 'Offending' Muslims
by Raheem Kassam
• Aug 8, 2016
Cross-posted from Breitbart
|
|
Share:
|
Be the first of
your friends to like this.
Originally published under the title "UK Man Sentenced
for 'Offending' Muslims on Police Facebook Page."
"Is
this about that Muslim thing on Facebook? I'm getting locked up for
sticking up for my own country," said Stephen
Bennett, father of seven, upon being arrested for offending Muslims in
a social media post.
|
A man from Manchester in the United Kingdom has been sentenced to 180
hours of unpaid work and a 12-month community order after posting
comments that were said to be "grossly offensive" towards
Muslims.
Stephen Bennett, 39, reportedly took to the Greater Manchester
Police's Facebook page to post comments "concerning an Asian
woman" as well as another which was "likely to be offensive to
Muslims."
While the Greater Manchester Police refused to disclose the details of
the case to Breitbart London, he is said to have also written:
"Don't come over to this country and treat it like your own. Britain
first," according to the Manchester Evening News.
The father of seven, whose mother-in-law and sister-in-law are Muslim,
was visited at his home at 8 am by police officers who arrested him under
the anti-free speech Malicious Communications Act. He is reported to have
said to the officers: "Is this about that Muslim thing on Facebook?
I'm getting locked up for sticking up for my own country."
The legislation, brought forward under Tony Blair's Labour government
in 2003, states that a person is guilty of an offense if they "send
by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other
matter that is grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing
character" or "cause any such message or matter to be so sent."
It adds: "A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be
liable, on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding
six months or to a fine not exceeding level 5 on the standard scale, or
to both."
A Muslim witness told the court
that Mr. Bennett's comments could be a "potential tool for
radicalisation."
|
The loosely worded law has caused legal experts to question
the "menacing" nature of the legislation.
It is the same legislation that saw a man frustrated with airport
delays who tweeted a sardonic threat to "blow the airport sky
high!" prosecuted in a much-publicised case – the "Twitter
Joke Trial" – which eventually led to a court quashing the
sentence after three appeals.
A Muslim witness told the Manchester court that Mr. Bennett's comments
were "irresponsible," incited hatred, and could be a
"potential tool for radicalisation."
The judge said his comments ran "the risk of stirring up racial
hatred in the present climate" and sentenced him to a 12-month
community order with 180 hours unpaid work. The judge added: "Your
remarks damaged the community in which you live, and it's the community
that you must repay."
Raheem Kassam is a
Shillman-Ginsburg fellow at the Middle East Forum and editor-in-chief of
Breitbart London.
|
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment