Arab League Parliament Calls For Establishing Criminal Liability For Insulting Muslims

CAIRO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2020) The Arab Parliament, the legislative body of the League of Arab States (LAS), has called on the international community to introduce criminal liability for insulting Muslims and islam founder prophet Muhammed, Egypt's Al Ahram newspaper reported, citing a LAS statement.

The call was made during a parliament meeting that took place on Thursday in the LAS headquarters in Cairo.

"The Arab Parliament urged the international community, the United Nations ... to resist vicious campaigns against the great envoy, Muhammad, and called for the establishing of criminal liability for insulting the prophet of Islam, Islam and Muslims," the statement said.

Earlier in the week, the Grand Imam of the Cairo-based Al-Azhar University - a leading institution of Islamic theologians - has also addressed the world community to adopt a law that would criminalize discrimination against Muslims after French President Emmanuel Macron's speech on the freedom of expression, which he made during a memorial to pay tribute to the slain history teacher Samuel Paty.

Paty was beheaded by a radicalized Chechen teenager in the outskirts of Paris on October 16 after he showed caricatures depicting prophet Mohammad during a class.

Following Macron's pledge to target radical Islam, another attack took place on Thursday in the Notre-Dame basilica, as a result of which three people were killed. The investigation into the stabbing is ongoing, led by the central department of the judiciary police jointly with the General Directorate for Internal Security.

The attacker - a 21-year-old Tunisian man - currently stays in hospital where he was taken after arrest due to injuries received during a police operation.