But instead, German authorities have brought a case against this German who engaged in a bit of speech against Islam.

BERLIN - A German businessman who printed the name of the Koran on toilet paper and offered the rolls for sale to mosques and media will face trial for disturbing the peace.

The man, identified only as Manfred van H., is scheduled to go on trial Feb. 23 at a court in Luedinghausen in western Germany, Jochen Dyhr, a spokesman for judicial authorities in nearby Muenster, said Thursday.

The businessman last summer printed sheets of toilet paper with the sentence "Koran, the Holy Qur'aen" and sent them to about 15 mosques, television stations and magazines.

In an accompanying letter, authorities say, he asserted that Islam's holy book is a "cookbook for terrorists" that calls for acts of violence.

He proposed that a "memorial to all victims of Islamic terror" be set up, financed by sales of the toilet paper - an offer that prosecutors say he also posted on the Internet.

The businessman's offer led to criminal complaints and telephone death threats against him.

Prosecutors argue that the man's actions overstepped the legally guaranteed freedom to criticize other religions. They say he has cited his right to freedom of opinion and artistic expression, and said his aim was to provoke rather than actually sell the toilet paper.

Offensive? Yeah, I suppose, but not to a degree that the full force of government’s jackboots should be brought down on this guy. And the mere fact that he may not have been serious about selling the toilet paper strikes me as irrelevant – in fact, it seems to me that the lack of commercial motivation makes what he did more worthy of protection. Should he have sent it to mosques? No -- but absent a threat, we are talking about an offense based upon expression of an idea.

Posted by: Greg at 02:11 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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