Plea for Blasphemy Clauses

The political whirlwind and international polemics incited by the publication of caricatures of the prophet Mohammed in a Danish newspaper have now died down.

Italy's "reform minister" Roberto Calderoli from the radical right Lega Nord, who wore a t-shirt in public showing a picture of Mohammed as terrorist wearing a turban and holding a bomb – quite obviously with racist motives and the intention to provoke – has been forced to resign.

Aftershocks of cartoon controversy

In Algeria, the two press representatives Berkane Bouderbala and Kamel Boussad, who were charged by the Ministry of Information with slurring the Islamic prophet, were released on March 16, 2006.

In fact, the publishers of the weekly newspaper Al-Safir ("The Messenger"), the newspaper Al-Risala ("The Letter") in a supplement dealing with religious issues, and the magazine 'Iqra' ("Read!") had only reprinted the controversial cartoons to inform their readers about the affair. They narrowly escaped a prison sentence of three to five years.

But the affair could yet produce some serious developments in its wake, namely in France. There, it appears to have encouraged some figures in the conservative camp to come forward and join in the debate. Despite outward appearances, however, their primary interest is not to place restrictions on the possible defamation of those of a different faith.

Instead, their motive is evidently to take advantage of the uproar about the cartoons and the troubles with the Muslims to realize one of their long-cherished wishes: to set in motion a reversal of the strict separation of religion, politics and law that is guaranteed in the French system.

Legislative initiatives by conservative right

On February 28 of this year, Jean-Marc Roubaud, a conservative member of parliament from the south of France, kicked off the debate. He submitted to the Paris National Assembly a bill calling for the prohibition of "all statements and actions that insult a religion of any kind."

Yet Roubaud can certainly not be considered a spokesperson for anti-racism who is trying only to show the necessary respect for Muslim immigrants.

He was for instance among the last, almost fanatical, defenders of the "Act of February 23, 2005." This law would have obligated teachers and scholars in France to emphasize "the positive role played by colonialism abroad, in particular in North Africa." The initiative came up against vehement opposition in Algeria – a country whose suffering under the colonial yoke was particularly severe – as well as in France.

Finally, President Chirac intervened this January and had the constitutional judges strike the controversial article from the agenda. Legally speaking, it was a botch up in the first place: according to the constitution, it is not up to legislators to prescribe the curricula in the schools.

Roubaud was none too pleased at this "set back." In the bill he has now presented, he reasons that: "The recent polemics surrounding the cartoons point up the problem of freedom of opinion and the press, which must be weighed against freedom of religion and ideology (...). Freedom of opinion does not give people the right to treat the religious feelings of any group or nation with contempt, to commit libel or to spread misinformation."

A Taliban in the National Assembly

The proposed law is nothing other than a plea for the reintroduction of a blasphemy clause. The weekly paper 'Canard enchaîné' of March 15 reported on the affair under the heading "A Taliban in the National Assembly."

Two weeks later, the paper announced that a new bill had been submitted. It comes from the conservative Assembly member from Paris's suburban Département of Seine-Saint Denis, Eric Raoult. Raoult held the post of "Integration Minister" in the 1990s.

He now proposes that in future "drawings" should also fall under the act of 1881 regulating press offences, criminal legislation that makes insults and "defamations" in press articles punishable by law. Cartoons have heretofore been exempt from prosecution. Raoult claims that his proposal merely reflects the wishes of a Muslim association in his Département.

In the meantime, however, the majority of the Muslim organizations in France have dissociated themselves from the initiative, which the former minister would only too gladly have ascribed to the demands of the Muslim minority.

Bernhard Schmid

© Qantara.de 2006

Translation from German: Jennifer Taylor-Gaida

Qantara.de

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