Aussie Pastors Face Jail Sentences for Expressing Beliefs

Aug 14, 2006

Two Australian pastors in the province of Victoria will go to jail if they do not apologize for publicly comparing Christianity with Islam according to their beliefs. One organization attempting to come to their rescue is The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a Washington-based international non- profit law firm renowned for protecting the free expression of all religious traditions.

Arguments are being presented today in the Appeals Court of Australia. A team of Australian lawyers is seeking to have overturned the 2004 ruling of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal which found that public expression of the pastors’ beliefs incited hatred against Muslims in violation of Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act because the pastors’ beliefs were deemed “offensive” and “unreasonable” interpretations of Christian and Islamic teachings. The Becket Fund is a member of that team, counseling the pastors regarding their rights under international law dealing with religious freedoms.

“Pastors Daniel Scot and Danny Nalliah are victims of a misguided piece of legislation that flies in the face of religious freedom protected by international law,” said Kevin J. "Seamus" Hasson, The Becket Fund’s President. “Instead of promoting religious tolerance, the Act inevitably promotes disharmony and suspicion. Now people are afraid to engage in any genuine dialogue about religious belief because someone might be taking notes in preparation for a lawsuit.”
“Our clients were expressing their opinions regarding the differences between the two religions,” Hasson said. “It doesn’t matter whether the government or anyone else thinks their opinions were wrong— everyone has the right to be wrong on matters of belief without fear of government sanction.”

Scot and Nalliah have vowed to go to jail rather than apologize for expressing their beliefs as the Tribunal has ordered.

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