Austrian authorities investigate Islam-bashing by rightist lawmaker

[Aptrgangr]

Austrian authorities investigate Islam-bashing by rightist lawmaker

Vienna - Remarks by a right-wing politician denouncing Islam and accusing the Prophet Mohammed of having been a paedophile provoked widespread outrage in Austria on Monday, with authorities investigating whether they constituted hate speech.
Susanne Winter, a candidate for the Freedom Party in local elections in Graz in south-eastern Austria, said on Sunday that Mohammed's marriage to a 6-year-old girl would make the prophet a 'paedophile in today's system.'
Speaking at a rally, Winter demanded that Islam should be 'thrown back where it came from, beyond the Mediterranean Sea.'

Winter later justified her attacks. 'There is widespread child abuse by Muslim men,' she was quoted as saying by the newspaper Oesterreich.
'Why can't I say this? That has nothing to do with hate speech. We want neither Austrian nor foreign paedophiles. I did not want to incite hatred, or offend a religious community,' she said.
Austria's authorities were investigating whether Winter's remarks constituted incitement to hatred, a spokesman from the prosecutor's office said. If found guilty, Winter could face up to two years in prison.
Politicians from all other factions sharply denounced Winter's remarks and called for her resignation.

Muslim representatives in Austria criticized the remarks. Omar al- Rawi, a spokesman for Austria's Muslim community, slammed the lack of respect shown by the right-wing politician.
Attacks against Islam had reached a level that 'made one's stomach turn,' al-Rawi said.
Graz will elect a local government on January 20. In the 2006 general elections the Freedom Party received 13 per cent of the vote.
The affair is reminiscent of the controversy over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, published in a Danish newspaper in September 2005 that later caused international protests, resulting in a number of deaths.

Austrian authorities investigate Islam-bashing by rightist lawmaker - Europe


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