The answer is obviously yes.

“Sharia scandal in Sweden: Are blasphemy laws being sneaked into the Swedish justice system?,” translated from “Shariaskandalen i Sverige: Smygs även hädelselagar in i det svenska rättsväsendet?,” by Katerina Janouch, March 5, 2018:

Under the cover of religious freedom, an ever-increasing bondage is sneaking into the country. Applications for the call to prayer, sharia-loving center party members in the judiciary, gender-separated bathing times and child marriages are just a few of the newer features that democratic, secular and equality-enforcing Sweden are forced to tamper with increasingly. Now there is also reason to ask the question whether we are imposing blasphemy laws in the country? The activity group called the Net Hate Examiners seems to focus on chasing and reporting primarily people who criticize or joke about Islam.

These Net Hate Examiners search for “hate & threats” on social media, and they have been prosperous. 600 notifications, of which 77 were prosecuted. I myself have contact with several of these (all elderly) persons called for interrogation and who risk fines or imprisonment if found guilty. One of those who suffered is 71-year-old Denny Abrahamsson, who was reported to have made two Islamic-critical comments (among other things, he called Islam for a “fascist ideology”). Another is a 73-year-old woman who shared a satirical text about Muslims. She had not even written the text herself, but found it on the Internet and published it in a group of 48 members. A third person writes to me that he tried to persuade Facebook to remove Islamic propaganda for the terrorist network ISIS, but was met with disinterest and that this material was not removed despite urgent pressure.

Right now, the scandal is going on with two Islamic jurymen, who also are members of the Center Party, in Solna District Court. The two jurymen have ruled by Sharia law in the case of a battered woman, which is obviously totally unacceptable in Sweden. But the question is how the support of sharia of Swedish politicians and officials can actually affect Swedish freedom of speech? Are we going for the introduction of blasphemy laws? The question seems absurd, but there are concerns even if the Center Party’s representatives asserts that they are not supporting Sharia.

After reading about ISIS’s abuse, a 32-year-old woman in Gothenburg posted a cartoon about Muslims on Facebook. Now she is prosecuted for hate speech after giving DNA and being subjected to degrading police interrogations. The interrogator asked her how she looked upon a multicultural society. The post, which featured a series of images that made fun of Muslims, was posted in a closed Facebook group in the spring of 2017. The snitch, who only identified himself as “Johan Eriksson,” claimed in the police report that “the 32-year-old woman expressed a threatening and/or degrading way about an ethnic group.” He also attached information about the woman’s age, place of residence and her mother’s identity.

I would love to know who this interrogator was. If this was a Sharia defender, is there reason to believe that the woman will be prosecuted and convicted? How much influence do Islamists actually have on the Swedish justice system and other important authorities? Let’s take a look at what Sharia means. Sharia is the foundation of political Islam, and attaches great importance to an idea of ​​spiritual purity. This means showing respect for the religion of Islam. The introduction of Sharia is a goal of Islamic movements in many societies. A clear majority of Muslims in Muslim-dominated countries are positively committed to Sharia, but the attitude to how Sharia is to be interpreted varies. Religious leaders have issued fatwas as urged to murder Islamic critics, so there are reasons to criticize Sharia to lead to oppression of dissent and barring freedom of opinion. According to Sharia, it is the death penalty of “apostasy” — deviating from righteous Muslim life — which may imply blasphemy against the Quran or Muhammad.

In Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, for example, blasphemy can lead to life-threatening bodily punishment, hard prison sentences and even death. One of the most famous cases is the 34-year-old Saudi blogger and the father of three children, Raif Badawi, who created the network Liberal Saudi Network. He was sentenced in May 2014 to ten years in prison, 1000 whip and 1 million rials in fines for insulting Islam. He received the first 50 whip strokes May 9, 2015, a brutality followed by the whole world. Social media is constantly undergoing campaign under the #freeRaif hashtag, but so far, these campaigns have been fruitless….

The question is why we in free Sweden should accept the same blasphemy laws that applies to Muslim dictatorships? Satire is not hate speech, and criticism of a religion is not baiting of an ethnic group. I hope we will not see more victims like the artist Vilks with his Muhammed cartoons.