Man Put In Prison For Tearing Up Koran

A court in Belgium has sentenced a man to four months in prison for tearing up a Koran, which was thrown at his head by a group of angry Muslims.

A man, identified only as Arne S., attended a demonstration in the Belgium city of Ostend in June 2012.

Following the protest words were exchanged between Arne S. and a group of about a dozen Muslims in a cafe, who proceeded to throw a copy of the Koran at his head.

The man reacted by tearing the Koran up in front of the group.

Olivier Ryde, Arne’s lawyer, argued in the Bruges court that his client had not infringed Belgium’s law on hate speech.

Nevertheless, the court in Bruges imposed a fine of €600 ($776) on Arne S., in addition to sentencing him to four-months in prison.

There may be more to the story than the scant details which have appeared in the Belgium press.

However, as the details are reported the case is a striking example of why Belgium is proposing limiting the influence of Islamic political parties