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Australian Pastors Face Jail for Expressing Beliefs
On August 14, 2006, the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, in cooperation with local counsel, submitted international law arguments before the Supreme Court of Victoria at Melbourne in the appeal of the “Pastors Danny” case.
The case centers on two Australian pastors, Daniel Scot and Daniel Nalliah, who face jail time for refusing to recant their critical comparison of Christianity and Islam. In 2002, the Pastors examined the two faiths in a religious seminar and a published newsletter and were subsequently reported to the authorities under Victoria’s Racial and Religious Tolerance Act. On December 17, 2004, the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal found that the pastors’ teachings were "unreasonable" and "unbalanced" in their description of Islam and thus in violation of the “Act.”
As punishment, on June 22, 2005, the Tribunal ordered Pastors Scot and Nalliah to print an apology - drafted by the judge - on their website, in their newsletter, and in eight advertisements appearing in two newspapers. The pastors have vowed to go to jail rather than apologize for expressing their religious beliefs.
Oral arguments were heard on August 21 and 22 and a final decision is forthcoming.
More information on the case, including the Becket Fund's legal opinion, is available here.