Jack of Kent
7th September 2008, 07:11 AM
This thread will feature legal cases involving "blasphemy" from around the world. As with its sister thread, Jack's Witchcraft Cases, each case should be given a name for ease of reference.
This thread will be kicked off with the Emily Mapfuwa case, see here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/03/religion.art/), which has been in the UK news recently.
This about a statue of Jesus with an erection, by Terence Koh. I understand he has done other such statues, such as Micky Mouse and ET.
Last year the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead included the statue in an exhibition.
Now representatives for the a gallery appeared in court charged with "outraging public decency".
Lawyers for Emily Mapfuwa, a 40-year-old Christian who was "offended" by the artwork, have launched a private prosecution against the gallery for outraging public decency and causing harassment, alarm and distress to the public. Please note that this means the gallery is bieng prosecuted under the criminal law, not sued under civil law (whatever the Guardian headline writer says).
Mapfuwa had previously complained in writing to Northumbria police earlier this year, asking for an investigation. Rightly, she was informed in May that there was no case to answer.
The Christian Legal Centre - an organisation that aims to "promote and protect the biblical freedoms of Christian believers in the United Kingdom" - agreed to pay her legal costs.
(I understand the CLC also funded the disasterous case brought by Stephen Green against the BBC over Jerry Springer - The Opera.)
The Guardian reports that a CLC spokesman said Mapfuwa believed in freedom of expression, but "this statue served no other purpose than to offend Christians and to denigrate Christ".
The gallery have denied the offence.
In my view, this case is nothing other than a gross abuse of the law to serve censorship.
The CLC know common law blasphemy has been abolished, but they are trying to prosecute it by the back door by using another common law offence.
It will be interesting to see how this case develops.
This thread will be kicked off with the Emily Mapfuwa case, see here (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/03/religion.art/), which has been in the UK news recently.
This about a statue of Jesus with an erection, by Terence Koh. I understand he has done other such statues, such as Micky Mouse and ET.
Last year the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Gateshead included the statue in an exhibition.
Now representatives for the a gallery appeared in court charged with "outraging public decency".
Lawyers for Emily Mapfuwa, a 40-year-old Christian who was "offended" by the artwork, have launched a private prosecution against the gallery for outraging public decency and causing harassment, alarm and distress to the public. Please note that this means the gallery is bieng prosecuted under the criminal law, not sued under civil law (whatever the Guardian headline writer says).
Mapfuwa had previously complained in writing to Northumbria police earlier this year, asking for an investigation. Rightly, she was informed in May that there was no case to answer.
The Christian Legal Centre - an organisation that aims to "promote and protect the biblical freedoms of Christian believers in the United Kingdom" - agreed to pay her legal costs.
(I understand the CLC also funded the disasterous case brought by Stephen Green against the BBC over Jerry Springer - The Opera.)
The Guardian reports that a CLC spokesman said Mapfuwa believed in freedom of expression, but "this statue served no other purpose than to offend Christians and to denigrate Christ".
The gallery have denied the offence.
In my view, this case is nothing other than a gross abuse of the law to serve censorship.
The CLC know common law blasphemy has been abolished, but they are trying to prosecute it by the back door by using another common law offence.
It will be interesting to see how this case develops.