MELBOURNE,
June 22, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – An Australian
court on Wednesday, June 22, ordered two pastors to apologize for
anti-Muslim remarks.
Victorian
Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) found Danny Nalliah and
Daniel Scot of the Evangelical Order Catch the Fire Ministry guilty of
vilifying Muslims made during a seminar in March 2002, reported The
Australian daily.
VCAT
deputy president Michael Higgins said the two breached the Racial and
Religious Tolerance Act by giving the remarks in speech, comments on a
Web site and in a newsletter.
They
had described Muslims as liars and demons, accused them of planning to
take over Australia and claimed that Islam was inherently a violent
religion.
The
Religious and Racial Tolerance Act says a person must not “incite
hatred against, serious contempt for or revulsion or severe ridicule
of” another person or group on the basis of religious belief or
activity.
Judge
Higgins ordered the two pastors to publish an apology on the Catch the
Fire Web site, in its newsletter and in two metropolitan newspapers.
Muslim
organizations in Australia estimate the number of Muslims in the
country at 350,000.
Welcomed
The
ruling was welcomed by Australian Muslims, said The Sunday Times.
"We're
satisfied with the remedies," said Waleed Aly, a member of the
Islamic Council of Victoria (ICV) executive committee.
The
ICV had lodged a complaint with the VCAT accusing the two pastors of
violating the Racial and Religious Tolerance Act.
"We
only ever asked for modest remedies. We never sought any monetary
compensation," Ali said.
"We
just hope commonsense prevails now and we can move on."
The
ICV is the umbrella organization of Islamic societies in Victoria and
their sole representative body to Australian government and Australian
community at large.
It
is a member of the Australian Federation of Islamic Council (AFIC),
the umbrella organization of all Islamic councils in Australia.
"No
Apology"
Adamant
Nalliah described himself as a martyr for free speech, stressing he
would go to jail before apologizing to the Australian Muslims, The
Australian said.
"We
will go to prison for standing for the truth and not sacrifice our
freedom and freedom to speak."
Nalliah
faces up to three months in jail and a fine of up to $7000 if he
defied the VCAT order, which he vowed to challenge in the Victorian
Supreme Court.
The
pastor also opened his salvoes at Victoria's vilification laws.
"Right
from the inception, we have said that this law is a foul law, this law
is not a law which brings unity," he said.
