A controversial comic book depicting Jesus as a party animal is not amusing the Greeks. They have banned the book and sentenced its author to a six-month jail term.
Calling it "hurtful to public decency and blasphemous," an Athens court upheld a ban on a comic book portraying Jesus Christ as a naked surfer high on marijuana and sentenced its author to six months in jail last month.
The book's Greek publishers and four local booksellers were acquitted of all charges regarding the book, called "The Life of Jesus." A separate case on the book's seizure is pending in the Greek Supreme Court.
"If the ban is not lifted, we'll consider appealing to the European Court of Human Rights," said Haderer's lawyer, Minas Mihailovic.
Ruling is "scandalous"
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: another view of JesusAustrian author Gerhard Haderer did not attend the trial and faces imprisonment only if he enters Greece. He called the ruling "scandalous."
"I have done nothing other than to go too far in depicting the contrast between non-believers and believers," he said. "But when the state suddenly begins to set limits for humor, then that is really a reason for disquiet."
Haderer's book, which sold over 100,000 German-language copies, is reportedly the first one to be banned in Greece in more than 20 years. It first ran into trouble in February 2003 after the Greek edition was confiscated by the Greek government and the powerful and conservative Greek Orthodox Church filed a complaint against the author.
In 2000, another book, an erotic Greek novel was provisionally seized in Greece after the church condemned it as blasphemous.
Jesus on a surfing trip
Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: a surfing JesusThe book is controversial because of its out-of-the-ordinary depictions of Jesus, such as one of his crossing the Sea of Galilee naked on a surfboard, receiving divine inspiration from frankincense. One illustration recasts the Last Supper as a drinking binge. Characters such as fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld and the late guitar wonder Jimi Hendrix mingle with Jesus in the tales.
The book has been published in Austria, Germany, France, Portugal, the Czech Republic, Hungary and South Korea. In some countries, it has sparked protests and a Czech lawmaker wanted the author fined. But in no other country has the book been banned.
"After all, Greece is a member of the European Union and, so you would think, not a religious state in which an artist's freedom of expression is kicked to the ground," said Harderer's publisher, Fritz Panzer.
Blasphemy laws hinder artistic freedom
The crackdown on the book was condemned by the Geneva-based International Publishers' Association (IPA) because of concerns that the ruling will hinder other authors.
Bildunterschrift: Gerhard Haderer poses in front of one of his comics
"While IPA opposes all forms of religious intolerance, it stands for the elimination of all prohibitions limiting freedom of expression whether imposed by governments or by religious authorities," IPA officials wrote in a statement.
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1480744,00.html
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
Showing posts with label book. Show all posts
2008/02/02
GREEK BAN ON 'BLASPHEMOUS' BOOK
Friday, 10 March, 2000, 14:41 GMT
Greek ban on 'blasphemous' book
"Insult to our faithful": Metropolitan Kallinikos.
A judge in Greece has banned a book after it was condemned by the Greek Orthodox church because of passages about the possible sexual longings of Jesus Christ.
Judge Maria Robbi said she banned sales of the book in the north of the country to prevent outbreaks of violence, after religious zealots threatened to take action against the author and shops selling the book.
The ban applies to provinces around the northern city of Thessaloniki, where Judge Robbi's court has jurisdiction - an area that represents nearly 25% of the country.
A dark side of the Greek moon is revealed
Book's author, Mimis Androulakis
She said the ban would remain in force until 16 May, when a hearing is to be held to consider whether to halt the sale of the best-selling book "M to the Power of N", by former Communist parliamentary deputy Mimis Androulakis.
Mr Androulakis immediately condemned the judge's decision, saying it revealed "a dark side of the Greek moon".
A church spokesman, Metropolitan Kallinikos, said Mr Androulakis had no right "to insult millions of our faithful with what he has said about the leader of our faith."
The book is a series of fictional dialogues between women whose names all begin with the letter M. The central theme is misogyny in various aspects of life, including religion.
One chapter mentions a possible sexual element in the relationship between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, a prostitute who became a follower.
Mimis Androulakis
Nearly all political parties, literary societies and scholars have backed the author.
Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos, a leading professor of constitutional law, also questioned the court's jurisdiction to ban the book.
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, dozens of black robed priests and monks stormed the court house and Judge Robbi's chambers, rhythmically chanting "blasphemers" and "antichrists" at Androulakis' defence lawyer, Thomas Trikoukis, who was also attacked by some protesters.
One precedent
With one exception, publishers say they cannot recall any book being banned in Greece since the fall of the 1967-74 military dictatorship.
Two years ago, a court banned a dictionary and ordered the author to remove an insulting reference to residents of Thessaloniki.
But the supreme court overturned the ban, saying that constitutional guarantees on free speech did not allow books to be banned or censored.
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Greek ban on 'blasphemous' book
"Insult to our faithful": Metropolitan Kallinikos.
A judge in Greece has banned a book after it was condemned by the Greek Orthodox church because of passages about the possible sexual longings of Jesus Christ.
Judge Maria Robbi said she banned sales of the book in the north of the country to prevent outbreaks of violence, after religious zealots threatened to take action against the author and shops selling the book.
The ban applies to provinces around the northern city of Thessaloniki, where Judge Robbi's court has jurisdiction - an area that represents nearly 25% of the country.
A dark side of the Greek moon is revealed
Book's author, Mimis Androulakis
She said the ban would remain in force until 16 May, when a hearing is to be held to consider whether to halt the sale of the best-selling book "M to the Power of N", by former Communist parliamentary deputy Mimis Androulakis.
Mr Androulakis immediately condemned the judge's decision, saying it revealed "a dark side of the Greek moon".
A church spokesman, Metropolitan Kallinikos, said Mr Androulakis had no right "to insult millions of our faithful with what he has said about the leader of our faith."
The book is a series of fictional dialogues between women whose names all begin with the letter M. The central theme is misogyny in various aspects of life, including religion.
One chapter mentions a possible sexual element in the relationship between Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene, a prostitute who became a follower.
Mimis Androulakis
Nearly all political parties, literary societies and scholars have backed the author.
Development Minister Evangelos Venizelos, a leading professor of constitutional law, also questioned the court's jurisdiction to ban the book.
At a preliminary hearing on Wednesday, dozens of black robed priests and monks stormed the court house and Judge Robbi's chambers, rhythmically chanting "blasphemers" and "antichrists" at Androulakis' defence lawyer, Thomas Trikoukis, who was also attacked by some protesters.
One precedent
With one exception, publishers say they cannot recall any book being banned in Greece since the fall of the 1967-74 military dictatorship.
Two years ago, a court banned a dictionary and ordered the author to remove an insulting reference to residents of Thessaloniki.
But the supreme court overturned the ban, saying that constitutional guarantees on free speech did not allow books to be banned or censored.
Search BBC News Online
Advanced search options
BBC RADIO NEWS
BBC ONE TV NEWS
WORLD NEWS SUMMARY
BBC NEWS 24 BULLETIN
PROGRAMMES GUIDE
Europe Contents
Country profiles
Internet links:
Banned books and censorship
The Church of Greece Website
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Top Europe stories now:
Mass resignations rock Turkey
Crash pilots given conflicting orders
Serbia jails first war criminal
New hope for Aids vaccine
Ukraine mine death toll rises
Russian anti-Jewish sign explodes
Sicilians dish up anti-Mafia pasta
Finland and Sweden plan 'Eurocity'
Links to more Europe stories are at the foot of the page.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/672736.stm
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