3 Muslims jailed in UK for calls to execute gays

PanARMENIAN.Net - Three Muslim men were jailed in Britain on Friday, Feb 10, for distributing leaflets calling for homosexuals to be executed, AFP reported.

Ihjaz Ali, Kabir Ahmed and Razwan Javed were the first to be convicted of stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, under laws that entered into force in 2010.

They gave out a pamphlet entitled "The Death Penalty?", which quoted Islamic texts that said capital punishment was the only way to rid society of homosexuality.

At Derby Crown Court in central England, taxi driver Ali, 42, was jailed for two years. Ahmed and Javed, both aged 28, were imprisoned for 15 months each.

The pamphlet read: "The death sentence is the only way this immoral crime can be erased from corrupting society and act as a deterrent for any other ill person who is remotely inclined in this bent way.

"The only dispute amongst the classical authorities was the method employed in carrying out the penal code."

It went on to offer burning, being thrown from a high point such as a mountain or building, or being stoned to death as suitable methods.

Judge John Burgess told the men: "You have been convicted of intending to stir up hatred. "It follows that your intention was to do great harm in a peaceful community."

The leaflet was handed out outside a mosque in Derby and in neighbouring streets in July 2010, to publicise a protest in response to a gay pride parade to be held in the city that month.

Two other leaflets, called "Turn or Burn" and "GAY (God Abhors You)", were also distributed.

"I am obviously keen to dissuade anyone from distributing this sort of material in the future," Burgess said, sentencing the men.

Two other men were found not guilty on the same charges.