On Friday 17 December 2004, two pastors from an Evangelical Christian group in Australia were found guilty of violating the country’s recently announced religious laws. According to Associated Press, the court in Victoria found Daniel Scot, who is a widely known evangelical speaker on the Middle East, guilty of "inciting hatred" by calling Muslims "liars and demons who were planning to overrun Western democracy by violence and terror."

Judge Michael Higgins found that Scot had "told the congregation Muslims wanted to turn Australia into an Islamic nation, and that the Koran, the Islamic holy book, promoted violence, killing and looting."

"It was done, not in the context of a serious discussion of Muslims' religious beliefs," Higgins said, "It was presented in a way which is essentially hostile, demeaning and derogatory of all Muslim people, their God, Allah, the prophet Mohammed and in general Muslim religious beliefs and practices."

Scot had fled to Australia with his family for greater religious freedom after he fell victim to Pakistani’s notorious blasphemy laws in 1986. As a Pakistani Christian, he was threatened to be prosecuted for refusing to convert to Islam and for insulting the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. However, he was not prosecuted, due to the condemnation from human rights groups around the world.

Catch the Fire Ministry’s (CMF) Danny Nalliah was also charged of inciting "fear and hatred of Muslims" in an article he had written for his church newsletter. The controversy also surrounds a seminar sponsored by CFM on March 9, 2002, during the aftermath of 9/11. The purpose of the seminar was to increase the understanding of Muslim culture.

"There was no hate speech at all," said Pastor Nalliah, of the seminar held on March 9, 2002. "It was teaching and understanding of what we knew of what the holy book of Islamic faith says. And I believe we, in a free and democratic society, should have the freedom to speak up."

The penalties for the religious vilification will be decided by the court early next year. Victims of the new Racial and Religious Vilification Law, established in January 2002, can be fined up to $6000 or imprisoned for 6 months. Organisations can be fined up to $30,000.

After hearing the seminar, a complaint was placed at the Equal Opportunity Commission (OEC) against the two pastors by the Islamic Council of Victoria. A complaint against the 2001 CMF Summer News Letter and a Website article was also filed.

The two evangelical pastors are the first to be charged under the new law.

Meanwhile, CFM had replied with a 57-page rebuttal against the 52 point complaint. Afterwards, the case was referred for conciliation at the EOC. But the conciliation failed and the EOC referred the case to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. After 14 months of deliberations, the verdict was finalised today.

Upon hearing the verdict, Nalliah and Scot called it a "blow to freedom of speech" and plan to appeal the case.

"Freedom of speech is one of our fundamental values in Australia and this case is not over," Pastor Scot said. "We cannot let freedom of speech be taken away from us; religion cannot be legislated. Gagging people's mouths is the worst thing you can ever do."




Jenny Lee
Ecumenical Press