Turkish pianist Fazil Say convicted of insulting Islam

[muriel_volestrangler]

World-renowned Turkish pianist Fazil Say has been given a suspended 10-month jail sentence for insulting Muslim values.

An Istanbul court found Say guilty over a series of posts on the social networking site Twitter.

Say was not in court for the sentencing. But he denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated.
...
The indictment against him cited some tweets, including a retweet by Mr Say which says: "I am not sure if you have also realised it, but if there's a louse, a non-entity, a lowlife, a thief or a fool, it's always an Allah-ist."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-22151212

[get the red out]

1. So sad

If religious entities were not so easily insulted I might have some semblance of respect for them; but most would rather demand respect than develop the decency and compassion required to earn it.

[struggle4progress]

2. "he denied the charges, saying they were politically motivated"

This, of course, is one of the long-recognized major problems with laws that intertwine religion and state: the laws are inevitably vague and so provide the politically powerful with flexible tools for prosecuting opponents