Somali charged over attack on Danish cartoonist, Ireland's New Blasphemy Laws

A Somali man has been charged with trying to kill a Danish artist whose caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed sparked riots around the world.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8437652.stm

Related - Ireland's Blasphemy Law Goes Into Effect - highlights:

The new law, which was passed in July, means that blasphemy in Ireland is now a crime punishable with a fine of up to €25,000 (£22,000).

It defines blasphemy as "publishing or uttering matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters sacred by any religion, thereby intentionally causing outrage among a substantial number of adherents of that religion, with some defences permitted".

The justice minister, Dermot Ahern, said that the law was necessary because while immigration had brought a growing diversity of religious faiths, the 1936 constitution extended the protection of belief only to Christians.

Michael Nugent, chair of an Irish atheist group, said that it would challenge the law through the courts if it were charged with blasphemy.

Nugent said: "This new law is both silly and dangerous. It is silly because medieval religious laws have no place in a modern secular republic, where the criminal law should protect people and not ideas. And it is dangerous because it incentives religious outrage, and because Islamic states led by Pakistan are already using the wording of this Irish law to promote new blasphemy laws at UN level.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jan/01/irish-atheists-challenge-blasphemy-law