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By: Barney Zwartz, Religion Editor, The Age
Melbourne, December 14, 2006
Pastor Danny Nalliah
Photo: Shaney Balcombe
Two Christian pastors found to have
vilified Muslims under Victoria's religious hatred law won their
appeal and hailed the decision as a victory for free speech.
The Court of Appeal ordered the case to be reheard at the
original tribunal, before a different judge and with no further
evidence. It set aside the orders for public apologies in
newspaper advertisements and for the pastors not to repeat their
remarks.
Last year Judge Michael Higgins found that Pastors Danny Nalliah
and Daniel Scot and Catch the Fire Ministries vilified Muslims
at a seminar on jihad in Melbourne in March 2002, in a
newsletter and a website article. |
He said these suggested that the Koran
promoted killing and looting, that Muslims wanted to take over
Australia and terrorists were true Muslims.
Justices Geoffrey Nettle, David Ashley and Marcia Neave overturned
that finding but rejected the appeal that the Racial and Religious
Vilification Act was unconstitutional.
They ordered the Islamic Council of Victoria, which brought the
original complaint, to pay half the appellants' appeal costs but
left the costs of the original hearing to be decided by the judge
who rehears the case.
After the hearing, Pastor Nalliah said: "I'm really thankful to
the Lord. I would be pleased to see it completed and not go back
to the tribunal, but what we got was more than a blessing."
He said it was a great day for free speech. He added that all laws
needed to be tested, and this now had now been tested and found to
be a bad piece of legislation.
Pastor Scot thanked his supporters and vowed to continue
conducting seminars on the Koran and Hadiths (Islam's sacred
texts). "Some Muslims have got the idea they have to hide the
truth, and that's very sad," he said.
"People should know it from the primary sources and not be misled
by politically correct teachers who don't know the reality of
Islam and want to glorify it with false pretensions and
assumptions," he said.
Click here for today's article in The Age.
Click here for the official finding of the Supreme Court of
Victoria, Court of Appeal. |
