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NewswireToday - /newswire/ -
Brussels, Belgium, 2007/01/09 - French writer, philosophy teacher and columnist Robert Redeker who received various threats in relation to opinion piece he wrote for Le Figaro last fall should be able to regain some legitimate freedom.
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A man has been arrested because of a hate mail he sent to columnist Redecker. With the collaboration of international police, a 20 years old man has been arrested today in Morocco. Info was released by several European media and TV.
On Sep 19, 2006, a few days before the Islamic month of Ramadan, he wrote an opinion piece for Le Figaro, a French conservative newspaper, which quickly removed the article from its public database.
In it, he attacked Islam and Muhammad, writing: "Pitiless war leader, pillager, butcher of Jews and polygamous, this is how Mohammed is revealed by the Koran." He called the Qur'an "a book of incredible violence", adding: "Jesus is a master of love, Muhammad a master of hate.". That day's issue of Le Figaro was banned in Egypt and Tunisia.
The teacher, Robert Redeker, wrote the article in response to the angry reactions around the Islamic world to a lecture by Pope Benedict XVI, in which he drew a link between Islam and violence.
Afterwards, Redeker received various death threats originating from one Islamist website, and he is currently in hiding receiving police protection. Source: en.wikipedia.org
At the time, Le Figaro published an editorial declaring: “We condemn as resolutely as possible the serious attack on the freedom of thought and the freedom of speech that this affair has provoked.”
French state schools are part of the domain of the secular state, they are meant to be free of all religious influence. This concept led to France’s controversial ban on students wearing visible religious symbols, including the hijab, or Islamic headscarf.
Redeker teaches at the Pierre-Paul-Riquet college, and at the École Nationale de l'Aviation Civile.
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