Norwegian Muslims want to collect 15,000 signatures in order to gain support
for a stricter blasphemy paragraph.
When it was discussed whether or not to cut the blasphemy paragraph, Carl I.
Hagen and his party, the Progress Party, secured a majority for a continued
ban on blasphemy in the penalty code in the nick of time. Hagen’s statements
regarding Islam are now being used as a reason for why the blasphemy
paragraph should become even stricter, reported the paper Vårt Land.
Due to Hagen’s statements in a speech at the independent congregation
Levende Ord in Bergen earlier this summer, he was reported for blasphemy by
Ashfaq Sadiq and Thyra Aisha Græsdal.
The two of them are now continuing their work. In collaboration with a
number of their peers, they are planning to go from door to door to collect
support for making the law stricter. Approximately 3,500 signatures have
allegedly already been collected, but their goal is 15,000.
The activists have three demands; the politicians must ensure that the
blasphemy law becomes effective, they have to ensure that the law is
followed, and they have to protect against misuse of free speech.
«15,000 signatures are enough to start a debate at Stortinget,» said Ashfaq
Sadiq to Vårt Land. «We will go there to get protection for our believes.»
bil/caravan
