Insult Islam online, go to jail

[Declan McCullagh]

Malaysia Takes Action On Anti-Islam Internet Surfers

By Steve Gold, Newsbytes
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA,
12 Dec 2000, 7:48 AM CST
Insulting Islam on the Internet in Malaysia could prove costly from now on, 
as the government has warned that offenders face fines of up to $1,300 
and/or three years in prison.

This draconian warning came from Abdul Hamid Othman, a minister in the 
Malaysian Prime Minister's Department Monday, when he said that any Muslim 
world Internet surfers who insult the Prophet Mohammed and the Koran, the 
Muslim equivalent of the bible, on the Internet, face dire consequences.

The legal action, he said, will be taken under Syariah criminal law - the 
Law of Mohammed - which all Muslim states adopt.

Othman's comments are likely to attract condemnation from Western Internet 
users and experts, many of whom, say Islamic proponents, do not understand 
the teachings of the Prophet Mohammed.

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