blasphemy on trial in Italy
May. 26th, 2005 01:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xatalantaxJudge Orders Italian Author to Stand Trial
By MARTA FALCONI
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 25, 2005; 7:19 PM
ROME -- A judge has ordered best-selling author Oriana Fallaci to face trial on charges of defaming Islam in her recent book "The Strength of Reason," the writer and an attorney in the case said Wednesday.
The case arose after Muslim activist Adel Smith charged that "some of the things she said are offensive to Islam," said Smith's attorney, Matteo Nicoli. He cited a phrase from the book that refers to Islam as "a pool ... that never purifies."
Fallaci, who is in her 70s, said she is accused of violating an Italian law that prohibits "outrage to religion."
The case is proceeding even though a prosecutor who handled it previously sought dismissal of the charges on the grounds that Fallaci had a right to state her own political beliefs, Nicoli said.
"I have expressed my opinion through the written word through my books, that is all," Fallaci told The Associated Press.
No date has been set for the trial to begin in the northern town of Bergamo, he said.
Fallaci, a former resistance fighter and war correspondent who lives in New York, has often stirred controversy for her blunt publications and provocative stances. During her journalistic career, Fallaci became known for uncompromising interviews with such world leaders as former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
In the ruling obtained by the AP, the judge said that "Fallaci is addressing her hostile expressions against every manifestation of the Islamic religion and world and not only against certain extremist sectors."
Italy's Justice Minister, Roberto Castelli sided with Fallaci, telling Radio Padania that "Fallaci had the courage to say what she thinks."
He said she had expressed "deep criticism, but not defamation."
"Religious sensitivity must be defended, but at the same time, the individual freedom to express one's own thought must be guaranteed," Castelli said.
By MARTA FALCONI
The Associated Press
Wednesday, May 25, 2005; 7:19 PM
ROME -- A judge has ordered best-selling author Oriana Fallaci to face trial on charges of defaming Islam in her recent book "The Strength of Reason," the writer and an attorney in the case said Wednesday.
The case arose after Muslim activist Adel Smith charged that "some of the things she said are offensive to Islam," said Smith's attorney, Matteo Nicoli. He cited a phrase from the book that refers to Islam as "a pool ... that never purifies."
Fallaci, who is in her 70s, said she is accused of violating an Italian law that prohibits "outrage to religion."
The case is proceeding even though a prosecutor who handled it previously sought dismissal of the charges on the grounds that Fallaci had a right to state her own political beliefs, Nicoli said.
"I have expressed my opinion through the written word through my books, that is all," Fallaci told The Associated Press.
No date has been set for the trial to begin in the northern town of Bergamo, he said.
Fallaci, a former resistance fighter and war correspondent who lives in New York, has often stirred controversy for her blunt publications and provocative stances. During her journalistic career, Fallaci became known for uncompromising interviews with such world leaders as former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
In the ruling obtained by the AP, the judge said that "Fallaci is addressing her hostile expressions against every manifestation of the Islamic religion and world and not only against certain extremist sectors."
Italy's Justice Minister, Roberto Castelli sided with Fallaci, telling Radio Padania that "Fallaci had the courage to say what she thinks."
He said she had expressed "deep criticism, but not defamation."
"Religious sensitivity must be defended, but at the same time, the individual freedom to express one's own thought must be guaranteed," Castelli said.
