title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: The cast and crew included 700 extras who had to be trained to simulate blindness. Actor Christian Duurvoort from Meirelles' "City of God" led a series of workshops to coach the cast members. Duurvoort had researched the mannerisms of blind people to understand how they perceive the world and how they make their way through space. Duurvoort not only taught the extras mannerisms, but also to convey the emotional and psychological states of blind people. One technique was reacting to others as a blind person, whose reactions are usually different from those of a sighted person. Meirelles described, "When you're talking to someone, you see a reaction. When you're blind, the response is much flatter. What's the point [in reacting]?"


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: Meirelles acknowledged the challenge of making a film that would simulate the experience of blindness to the audience. He explained, "When you do a film, everything is related to point of view, to vision. When you have two characters in a dialogue, emotion is expressed by the way people look at each other, through the eyes. Especially in the cut, the edit. You usually cut when someone looks over. Film is all about point of view, and in this film there is none." Similar to the book, blindness in the film serves as a metaphor for human nature's dark side: "prejudice, selfishness, violence and willful indifference."


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: With only one character's point of view available, Meirelles sought to switch the points-of-view throughout the film, seeing three distinct stylistic sections. The director began with an omniscient vantage point, transited to the intact viewpoint of the doctor's wife, and changed again to the Man with the Black Eye Patch, who connects the quarantined to the outside world with stories. The director concluded the switching with the combination of the perspective of the Doctor's Wife and the narrative of the Man with the Black Eye Patch.


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: The film also contains visual cues, such as the 1568 painting "The Parable of the Blind" by Pieter Bruegel the Elder. Allusions to other famous artworks are also made. Meirelles described the intent: "It's about image, the film, and vision, so I thought it makes sense to create, not a history of painting, because it's not, but having different ways of seeing things, from Rembrandt to these very contemporary artists. But it's a very subtle thing."


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: Prior to public release, Meirelles screened "Blindness" to test audiences. A screening of his first cut in Toronto resulted in ten percent of the audience, nearly 50 people, walking out of the film early. Meirelles ascribed the problem to a rape scene that takes place partway through the film, and edited the scene to be much shorter in the final cut. Meirelles explained his goal, "When I shot and edited these scenes, I did it in a very technical way, I worried about how to light it and so on, and I lost the sense of their brutality. Some women were really angry with the film, and I thought, 'Wow, maybe I crossed the line.' I went back not to please the audience but so they would stay involved until the end of the story." He also found that a New York City test screening expressed concern about a victim in the film failing to take revenge; Meirelles ascribed this as a reflection of what Americans have learned to expect in their cinema.


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: Focus Features acquired the right to handle international sales for "Blindness". Pathé acquired UK and French rights to distribute the film, and Miramax Films won U.S. distribution rights with its $5 million bid. "Blindness" premiered as the opening film at the 61st Cannes Film Festival on May 14, 2008, where it received a "tepid reception". Straw polls of critics were "unkind" to the film.


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: "Blindness" was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2008 as a Special Presentation. The film also opened at the Atlantic Film Festival on September 11, 2008, and had its North American theatrical release on October 3, 2008. It also premiered in Japan at the Tokyo International Film Festival on October 19, 2008, before releasing theatrically on November 22.


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: Despite being on a number of critics top 10 lists for 2008, the film received "mixed or average" reviews on Metacritic, which sampled 31 critic reviews and calculated a weighted average score of 45 out of 100. According to Rotten Tomatoes, 44% of 160 critics have given the film a positive review, and the average rating is 5.3/10. The consensus on the website reads, "This allegorical disaster film about society's reaction to mass blindness is mottled and self-satisfied; provocative but not as interesting as its premise implies."


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: "Screen International"'s Cannes screen jury which annually polls a panel of international film critics gave the film a 1.3 average out of 4, placing the film on the lower-tier of all the films screened at competition in 2008. Of the film critics from the "Screen International" Cannes critics jury, Alberto Crespi of the Italian publication "L'Unità", Michel Ciment of French film magazine "Positif" and Dohoon Kim of South Korean film publication "Cine21", all gave the film zero points (out of four).


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: Kirk Honeycutt of "The Hollywood Reporter" described "Blindness" as "provocative but predictable cinema", startling but failing to surprise. Honeycutt criticized the film's two viewpoints: Julianne Moore's character, the only one who can see, is slow to act against atrocities, and the behavior of Danny Glover's character comes off as "slightly pompous". Honeycutt explained, "This philosophical coolness is what most undermines the emotional response to Meirelles' film. His fictional calculations are all so precise and a tone of deadly seriousness swamps the grim action." Justin Chang of "Variety" described the film: ""Blindness" emerges onscreen both overdressed and undermotivated, scrupulously hitting the novel's beats yet barely approximating, so to speak, its vision." Chang thought that Julianne Moore gave a strong performance but did not feel that the film captured the impact of Saramago's novel. Roger Ebert called "Blindness" "one of the most unpleasant, not to say unendurable, films I've ever seen." A. O. Scott of "The New York Times" stated that, although it "is not a great film, ... it is, nonetheless, full of examples of what good filmmaking looks like."


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: Stephen Garrett of "Esquire" complimented Meirelles' unconventional style: "Meirelles [honors] the material by using elegant, artful camera compositions, beguiling sound design and deft touches of digital effects to accentuate the authenticity of his cataclysmic landscape." Despite the praise, Garrett wrote that Meirelles' talent at portraying real-life injustice in "City of God" and "The Constant Gardener" did not suit him for directing the "heightened reality" of Saramago's social commentary.


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" called it "an intelligent, tightly constructed, supremely confident adaptation": "Meirelles, along with screenwriter Don McKellar and cinematographer Cesar Charlone, have created an elegant, gripping and visually outstanding film. It responds to the novel's notes of apocalypse and dystopia, and its disclosure of a spiritual desert within the modern city, but also to its persistent qualities of fable, paradox and even whimsy." "Blindness is a drum-tight drama, with superb, hallucinatory, images of urban collapse. It has a real coil of horror at its centre, yet is lightened with gentleness and humour. It reminded me of George A Romero's "Night of the Living Dead", and Peter Shaffer's absurdist stage-play "Black Comedy". This is bold, masterly, film-making."


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: "The Boston Globe"'s Wesley Morris raved about the leading actress: "Julianne Moore is a star for these terrible times. She tends to be at her best when the world is at its worst. And things are pretty bad in "Blindness," a perversely enjoyable, occasionally harrowing adaptation of José Saramago's 1995 disaster allegory. [...] "Blindness" is a movie whose sense of crisis feels right on time, even if the happy ending feels like a gratuitous emotional bailout. Meirelles ensures that the obviousness of the symbolism (in the global village the blind need guidance!) doesn't negate the story's power, nor the power of Moore's performance. The more dehumanizing things get, the fiercer she becomes."


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: The film appeared on some critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008. Bill White of the "Seattle Post-Intelligencer" named it the 5th best film of 2008, and Marc Savlov of "The Austin Chronicle" named it the 8th best film of 2008.


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: Meirelles screened "Blindness" privately for Saramago. When the film ended, Saramago was in tears, and said: "Fernando, I am as happy to have seen this movie as I was the day I finished the book."


title: Blindness (2008 film)

text: The film has been strongly criticized by several organizations representing the blind community. Dr. Marc Maurer, President of the National Federation of the Blind, said: "The National Federation of the Blind condemns and deplores this film, which will do substantial harm to the blind of America and the world." A press release from the American Council of the Blind said "...it is quite obvious why blind people would be outraged over this movie. Blind people do not behave like uncivilized, animalized creatures." The National Federation of the Blind announced plans to picket theaters in at least 21 states, in the largest protest in the organization's 68-year history. José Saramago has described his novel as allegorically depicting "a blindness of rationality". He dismissed the protests, stating that "stupidity doesn't choose between the blind and the non-blind."


title: Xaverian High School

text: Xaverian High School is a private Catholic high school located in the Bay Ridge neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, serving grades 6 through 12. Grades 9-12 offer a college prep program and grades 6-8 are a middle school.


title: Xaverian High School

text: The school was founded in 1957 by the Xaverian Brothers. The school is a member of the Catholic High School Athletic Association (CHSAA). Xaverian is governed by a president and board of trustees. It is operated independently of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn. As of October 2017 the school had a total student population of 1,045. 769 students identified as White/Caucasian, 149 as Hispanic/Latino, 68 as Black/African American, 41 as Asian/Pacific Islander, 2 as Native American/Alaskan Native, 1 as Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, and 15 as two or more races.


title: Xaverian High School

text: On March 5, 2015, the board of trustees made a decision to incorporate co-education to the high school, beginning in 2016. The school's first boys and girls class has been admitted for the 2016–2017 school year. Xaverian High School also has a sister school located in Bruges, Belgium called the and maintains a yearly cultural exchange program with the school allowing exchange students to come to New York City in the fall and Xaverian students to go to Belgium in the winter.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: John Thomas Dodson III (born September 26, 1984) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the flyweight division of Rizin Fighting Federation. A professional mixed martial arts competitor since 2004, Dodson has made a name for himself fighting mainly in the Southwest region. He was the winner of the Spike TV's and competed in Ultimate Fighting Championship where he was a two-time title challenger, competing most recently in the bantamweight division, and is a veteran of the promotion with 9 years of competition.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He grew up in Albuquerque and later moved to Edgewood, New Mexico, with his family. He attended Moriarty High School in Moriarty, New Mexico. Dodson is half African-American, half Filipino. While attending Moriarty, Dodson competed in track, football and wrestling. In wrestling, Dodson was a two-time state champion, one time state runner-up and four time district champion. Dodson graduated from high school in 2003, and then enrolled at the University of New Mexico while working at a local Chuck E. Cheese's restaurant.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson's mother raised him and his brother, Eric, as a single parent. His favorite Filipino food is "Pancit". Dodson has daughters named Delilah Skye and Aurora Rose with his wife Chelsea.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson began training MMA in 2002 after Chris Luttrell, and Greg Jackson recruited him for his extensive wrestling background. After the first day of training he "fell in love with the sport" and continued to train daily with Jackson.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson competed in a Grappler's Quest and won in the beginner level. Four months later he did another submission tournament, winning that at the intermediate level. Six months later Dodson competed in his first amateur fight. He competed in one other amateur bout before turning pro. Dodson was offered to make his debut in Japan against the number one ranked flyweight in the world, Yasuhiro Urushitani. Dodson lost the fight via decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: With the lack of fights materializing at flyweight, Dodson began taking fights at featherweight and bantamweight as well. He obtained a 3–2 record before taking a fight against future WEC fighter, Clint Godfrey, winning the fight via decision. With the win over Godfrey, Dodson was selected to be a part of the second season of the Tapout Reality show.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Despite having a 1–1 record under the Ultimate Warrior Challenge promotion, he was awarded shot at the vacant UWC flyweight title at UWC 7. Dodson was defeated by Pat Runez in a highly controversial five-round decision. At UWC 8, Dodson defeated previously unbeaten Jesse Riggleman via unanimous decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson was expected to fight at Tachi Palace Fights 9 against Alexis Vila. However, Vila suffered an injury and was forced to pull out of the bout. Vila was replaced by former Shooto champion Mamoru Yamaguchi. Dodson then pulled out of the fight for unknown reasons, and was replaced by Kevin Dunsmoor.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: In 2011, Dodson had signed with the UFC to compete on . In the first episode, Dodson fought Brandon Merkt to gain entry into the "Ultimate Fighter" house. Dodson defeated Merkt in the first round via TKO.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson was selected as a part of Team Mayhem, he was the first bantamweight chosen for the team (fourth overall). Dodson defeated John Albert via unanimous decision in the preliminary round and moved onto the semi-finals.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: In the semi-finals Dodson was selected to fight Team Mayhem teammate, Johnny Bedford. After a close first round, Dodson won the fight via KO in the first minute of the second round. The win moved Dodson into the finals. The impressive finish also won Dodson an additional $25,000 for the fan voted "Knockout of the Season".


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson made his UFC debut on December 3, 2011, at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale against T.J. Dillashaw to determine the bantamweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter 14. Dodson won the fight via TKO in the first round to become the first Bantamweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter competition. He received an additional $40,000 for winning "Knockout of the Night" honors.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: For his next fight, Dodson moved back down to the flyweight division and was expected to face Darren Uyenoyama on May 5, 2012, at UFC on Fox 3. However, Uyenoyama was forced out of the bout, and was replaced by promotional newcomer Tim Elliott. Dodson defeated Elliott by unanimous decision, generating crowd booing.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced promotional newcomer Jussier Formiga on October 5, 2012, at UFC on FX 5. He won the fight via TKO in the second round.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced UFC Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson on January 26, 2013, at UFC on Fox 6, becoming the first Ultimate Fighter alumnus to fight for a title post-season 5. Despite knocking Johnson down twice in the second round, Dodson lost the fight via unanimous decision in a bout that earned both participants "Fight of the Night" honors.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced promotional newcomer Darrell Montague on October 19, 2013, at UFC 166. He won via knockout at 4:13 of the first round. The win also earned him his second "Knockout of the Night" award.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson was expected to face Scott Jorgensen on December 14, 2013, at UFC on Fox 9, replacing Ian McCall. However, Dodson himself was forced from the bout after sustaining a knee injury. Jorgensen instead faced promotional newcomer Zach Makovsky.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: A rematch with John Moraga took place on June 7, 2014, at UFC Fight Night 42. Dodson won the fight via TKO due to a doctor stoppage between rounds two and three after a knee he threw late in the second round.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: A rematch with the Flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson took place on September 5, 2015, at UFC 191. In a completely one-sided affair, Dodson lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced Manvel Gamburyan in a bantamweight bout on April 16, 2016, at UFC on Fox 19, He won the fight via TKO in the first round.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced John Lineker on October 1, 2016, at UFC Fight Night 96. The bout took place at a catchweight of 136.5 lbs as Lineker missed weight. He lost the back and forth fight via split decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced Eddie Wineland on April 22, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 108. He won the fight via unanimous decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced Marlon Moraes on November 11, 2017, at UFC Fight Night 120. He lost the fight via split decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson was expected to face Pedro Munhoz at UFC Fight Night 125 on February 3, 2018. However, Munhoz missed weight by four pounds over the bantamweight non-title fight upper limit of 136 pounds, negotiations fell through, and the fight was cancelled. The fight was rescheduled to UFC 222 on March 3, 2018. Dodson won the bout via split decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson's contract with UFC expired after the fight with Munhoz and after listening to offers from various companies, he re-signed a new four-fight with UFC.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced Jimmie Rivera on September 8, 2018, at UFC 228. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced Petr Yan on February 23, 2019, at UFC Fight Night 145. He lost the fight by unanimous decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced Nathaniel Wood on February 15, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 167. He won the fight via TKO in the third round.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: On June 16, 2020, news surfaced that with one fight left on his prevailing contract, Dodson re-signed a five-fight deal with the UFC.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson faced Merab Dvalishvili on August 15, 2020, at UFC 252. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson was scheduled to fight his first bout after release on July 30, 2021, at XMMA 2 against Cody Gibson. However, Dodson got into a potentially life-threatening car accident with his family and withdrew from the bout. Gibson knocked out replacement Louis Sanoudakis in 44 seconds. Dodson's bout with Gibson was rescheduled for XMMA 3 on October 23. Gibson won the fight by unanimous decision.


title: John Dodson (fighter)

text: Dodson signed a multi-fight contract with Rizin Fighting Federation and is set to debut against Hideo Tokoro in a return to flyweight on December 31, 2022 at Rizin 40.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: Cadaver () is a 2020 Norwegian horror film directed and written by Jarand Herdal and starring Gitte Witt, Thomas Gullestad and Thorbjørn Harr.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: The Norwegian city in which Leonora (Gitte Witt) and Jacob (Thomas Gullestad) live with their little daughter Alice (Tuva Olivia Remman), was hit by a nuclear disaster. There seems to be no electricity, no work, nor any food left and no hope. While everybody is struggling to survive Leonora hears about a theatre play – which comes with a warm meal – at one of the few buildings that has not been destroyed: the hotel. The family is hungry and Leonora hopes for a good time, so she buys evening tickets for all of them.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: Alice is first refused entry. However the overly charming hotel director, Mathias (Thorbjørn Harr), personally steps in and welcomes the young girl to his "wonderland" (referring to her being named Alice).


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: The atmosphere is very festive as the building not only has electricity, but also candles, white table cloths and antique furniture. About 40 or 50 people are happy to be seated at tables for the meal, and most are so starved that they directly grab the slices of meat and eat with their hands. Mathias informs his guests that the entire hotel will be the stage of the night's performance. To differentiate the visitors from the actors, all spectators are given heavy golden masks.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: A few actors start performing and as the guests are invited to attend any performance that interests them anywhere in the large, atmospheric building, people start to explore the numerous floors of the vast building. Not long after the family started to follow the performances, Leo and Jacob lose Alice in one of the long, dark corridors. They start to call her and search for her, hardly noticing that most of the other spectators seem to have disappeared.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: As Leo navigates through the red labyrinthine corridors, she finds odd trapdoors and strange men in white overalls, but no Alice. As the search continues, more and more strange occurrences pile up. Another spectator they pair up with vanishes, leaving behind only a single earring. Leo is haunted by visions of Alice, and eventually is led down into a boiler basement by a trail of clothing resembling Alice's dress, with the missing woman's husband and another spectator joining the search. The trio find clothes being burned in the boiler, and a fight breaks out as Leo remains hopeful they may find Alice. Jacob insists that all hope is lost, blaming Leo for bringing them to the hotel. The other spectator they were with turns out to be part of the hotel's cast and turns on the couple, prompting Jacob to throw himself at the man to give Leo a chance at escape. She fails to get away, finding the hallway blocked by one of the large men in overalls.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: It is uncovered that the hotel and its "performance" is a plot to lure in and murder the desperate people in surrounding towns and cities. Mathias selects a few survivors to help in capturing the remaining spectators to then be harvested for their flesh, which is turned into the meals eaten at the start of each performance. Leo is caught, and offered a chance to join the group by both Mathias and Jacob, who seems to have joined him while she was unconscious. She refuses, and Jacob, unwilling to see his wife die, attacks one of the men working in the butchery to save her, being stabbed to death in the process.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: Leo runs out to confront Mathias in front of a new audience, now all adorned in their gold masks and already having been given the spiel about the "performance". Nobody believes that what she says is true, assuming it to be part of the show, but Leo acts on her feet, pulling from her past life as an actress. She makes a dramatic speech about finding her daughter, making herself appear to be the most interesting actor, and the new crowd easily follows her. She leads the group down into the kitchen where they discover she was telling the truth, and promptly attack Mathias and the others involved in his plot.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: Leo breaks down as the crowd disperses, and believes she is seeing another hallucination of Alice. This Alice turns out to be real, though, and she embraces her daughter, leading her away from the hotel. The pair find the streets outside just as desolate and hopeless as before, and it is next to the body of a starved boy in the road that the two stop, turning back to see a golden light shining down from above on the hotel in the distance.


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: According to Sheena Scott of Forbes, who gave the film a mixed review, 'The story in Cadaver is too predictable, you'll guess pretty quickly what will happen, but there is a creepy atmosphere that works well.'


title: Cadaver (2020 film)

text: Karine Adelgaard of "Heaven of Horror" gave the film a negative review, stating that 'For a while the plot works really well, offering a quite immersive experience. Ultimately, too many plot points mean the heart of the story is lost. However, it does offer up a very satisfying conclusion that leaves its viewers with a more positive sense that we might have expected earlier on.'


title: Alden Richards

text: Richard Reyes Faulkerson Jr. (born January 2, 1992), known professionally as Alden Richards, is an award-winning Filipino actor, singer, host, and entrepreneur. He is dubbed as "The Asia's Multimedia Star" after receiving the Asian Star Prize awards in 14th Seoul International Drama Awards of 2019 for acting.


title: Alden Richards

text: Richards rose to fame when he was paired with Maine Mendoza, where he became the other half of their loveteam, AlDub. His notable works include "Tween Hearts", "One True Love", "Carmela", "The Road", "Ilustrado", "Imagine You and Me", "Victor Magtanggol", "Hello, Love, Goodbye", "The Gift", "The World Between Us" and "Start-Up PH". As a recording artist, he has released albums and singles under Universal Records and GMA Music.


title: Alden Richards

text: Named after his father, Alden Richards was born Richard Reyes Faulkerson, Jr. on January 2, 1992, in Quezon City and was raised in Santa Rosa, Laguna. He is the second child of Richard Peralta Faulkerson, Sr. of Ermita, Manila and Rosario Reyes, a native of Pampanga. He has three siblings, an older brother and two younger sisters. Richards's paternal grandfather, whom he never met, was American.


title: Alden Richards

text: After his mother died, to support his family financially and to fulfill his mother's wish for him to be an actor, Richards decided to join various male beauty pageants in Laguna and worked as a part-time commercial model. He holds the titles "Ginoong Sta Rosa 2009" and "Ginoong Laguna 2010". He auditioned for the reality television shows "StarStruck" and "", but both auditions failed. He also appeared in various commercials, including a telecommunication company, clothing line, fast-food chain and multivitamins. He studied at Paco Catholic School in Paco, Manila and at Colegio de Santa Rosa de Lima High School, where he graduated. He began, but has not completed, a Business Management Degree at De La Salle Canlubang in Laguna.


title: Alden Richards

text: After doing modelling stints, Alden auditioned for an acting role on the GMA Network's afternoon soap, "Alakdana". He passed the audition and played the role of Joma. In "Alakdana," he was paired with the lead actress Louise delos Reyes. When he became an actor, he used the stage name Alden Richards. In 2011, he was included in the teenage series, "Tween Hearts" and also starred in its film adaptation "". He also performed on GMA Network's Sunday variety shows "Party Pilipinas" and "Sunday All Stars". He also appeared in the comedy-horror show "Spooky Nights". Richards was praised with his performance as a psychopath in the film "The Road". By the end of 2011, he replaced Aljur Abrenica's role as Gobi in "Ang Panday 2," which is an entry at the 2011 Metro Manila Film Festival. Abrenica was pulled out of the film due to conflict of schedules and Richards re-shoots scenes made by Abrenica. Richards was also praised by some entertainment writers for his performances, predicting that he would be the next big star of GMA Network.


title: Alden Richards

text: Alden was awarded as the 1st Filipino Amazing Male Newcomer in the first Yahoo! OMG! Philippines Awards in 2011. He also won as Best New Actor in the Golden Screen Awards in the same year. He invited FHM Sexiest of 2011 Sam Pinto for a date on national TV. The latter did accept the invitation and went on a cruise date with Richards in the Manila Bay, but the actress revealed that it was just a friendly date. On Valentine's Day of 2012, "A Date with Alden Richards", a GMA Network promo"," was held on national television and the micro-blogging site Twitter where it trended.


title: Alden Richards

text: In 2012, Alden played the supporting role of a thief named Rico on the prime time series, "My Beloved" headlined by Marian Rivera and Dingdong Dantes. He also acted on the episode "UNOS" (Calamity) of the fourth season of a Holy Week special, "Tanikala," presented by Christian Broadcasting Network. Richards starred in his first lead role on a prime time TV series with "One True Love," which premiered on June 11, 2012, and was paired again with Louise delos Reyes. In the series, Richards who played "Tisoy" is a poor guy who is in love with a rich girl. According to him, the series was his biggest break in the show business industry. Richard's earned his first Best Actor nomination for "One True Love" in the 2013 Golden Screen TV Awards. It took a while before he had a new television or film project until he was cast as young Simeon (the character played by Bong Revilla) in the historical drama "Indio" in 2013. According to Richards, he is proud to play the role as young Simeon.


title: Alden Richards

text: The story of Alden's life was featured on drama anthology, "Magpakailanman" aired in March 2013 (re-aired on September 12, 2015) wherein he portrayed himself. In the same year, Richards and delos Reyes was paired again in the GMA Network melodrama series entitled "Mundo Mo'y Akin" with actresses Sunshine Dizon and Angelika dela Cruz. Richards' portrayal on the show earned him another nomination at the 5th Golden Screen TV Awards. On October 25, 2013, Richards signed an exclusive contract with GMA Network.


title: Alden Richards

text: Alden debuted as a singer through the #SummerCrush episode of the Sunday noontime show, "Party Pilipinas" in April 2013. He launched his first single, "Haplos", a revival of Shamrock's hit song, which surfaced in My Music Store and iTunes on April 5, 2013. The self-titled debut album, "Alden Richards", under Universal Records, was released on May 26, 2013. The track "Haplos" was used as soundtrack on his prime time show "Mundo Mo'y Akin". Meanwhile, "Di Na Mababawi" and "Sa Aking Tabi" were used as theme songs for the Filipino-dubbed version koreanovela "My Daughter, Seoyoung" and morning drama "With a Smile" respectively. He was featured as Myx Celebrity VJ for the month of June 2013. For his song "Haplos", Richards was nominated in the "Best Performance by a New Recording Artist" category in the 27th Awit Awards. On the 6th Star Awards for Music, Richards was nominated for "New Male Recording Artist for the Year" while his self-titled album was nominated for "Album Cover Design and Concept of the Year".


title: Alden Richards

text: In 2014, Alden was paired with Marian Rivera in the television series "Carmela". The song "Naaalala Ka" from his self-titled album, served as the ending theme for "Carmela". He also starred in a short film entitled "Kinabukasan" with veteran Filipina actress Nora Aunor. He hosted "Bet ng Bayan," a talent search television program of GMA Network, together with Regine Velasquez. Close to the end of 2014, he had another television series produced by GMA News and Public Affairs entitled "Ilustrado". He played the role of Filipino patriot José Rizal that gave Richards his first Best Actor award from the 29th PMPC Star Awards for Television. He was the only nominee from his home network against a field of respected actors from the rival television network.


title: Alden Richards

text: In 2015, Alden became part of the Philippines' longest running noontime variety show, "Eat Bulaga!" He appeared as a host in the segment "That's My Bae". On July 16, 2015, Richards was unintentionally paired to his "Eat Bulaga!" co-host Maine "Yaya Dub" Mendoza during an episode of the "Juan for All, All for Juan" segment. They instantly became a love team, dubbed as AlDub. Because of their popularity, "Eat Bulaga!" created a mini-series for AlDub labeled by Joey de Leon as Kalyeserye. In Kalyeserye, Richards plays different roles including fictionalized version of himself and as Anselmo.


title: Alden Richards

text: On August 6, 2015, Alden signed a four-year film contract with APT Entertainment, the film outfit of "Eat Bulaga!" producer TAPE Inc. In the same month, Richards signed a recording contract with GMA Records. Richards' second album, "Wish I May", was launched on October 17, 2015, in SM City North EDSA Cinema 11. The album contains two original songs and the rest are renditions. The first single, "Wish I May," is an original composition by Agat Obar-Morallo and was released earlier for online downloading and streaming in September 2015. The music video of "Wish I May" premiered on October 18, 2015, on GMA Network's Sunday noontime show "Sunday PinaSaya," where Richards is also a co-host. The single landed on the top spot of iTunes Philippines song charts. The song "Wish I May" is used as the theme song for the series with the same name. The sophomore album earned a gold record award from Philippine Association of the Record Industry (PARI) prior to being officially launched.


title: Alden Richards

text: In September 2015, Alden's self-titled debut album earned a gold record award recognition from PARI and ranked number 10 on "Billboard"s World Albums Charts (Billboard). In October 2015, Universal Records released a special edition of the debut album which included AlDub theme song "God Gave Me You" by Bryan White. In the same month, the album "Wish I May" received a platinum record award from PARI for selling more than 15,000 copies. In November 2015, his debut album "Alden Richards" has been certified platinum. As for the album "Wish I May", it went on to earn a number of recognition from PARI as it received double platinum in December 2015, triple platinum award on January 21, 2016, quadruple platinum award on February 28, 2016, five times platinum record in March 2016, seven times platinum in July 2016, and eight times platinum in September 2016.


title: Alden Richards

text: The theme song for GMA Network's Christmas station ID entitled "MaGMAhalan Tayo Ngayong Pasko" was performed by Alden in 2015. Aside from singing the theme song, Richards also appeared on the station ID music video with Maine Mendoza and the Kalyeserye's "lolas" (Jose Manalo, Wally Bayola and Paolo Ballesteros). In December 2015, Richards and Mendoza starred in the 41st Metro Manila Film Festival entry "My Bebe Love#KiligPaMore". The film headlined by Vic Sotto and Ai-Ai delas Alas and was directed by Jose Javier Reyes. Also in December 2015, Richards together with Mendoza were also given a German Moreno Power Tandem Award. Richards received a star at the Philippine Walk of Fame on December 1, 2015, at Eastwood City, Libis, Quezon City along with his "Kalyeserye" co-stars.


title: Alden Richards

text: In March 2016, Alden and Maine starred in "God Gave Me You", a Lenten season drama special of "Eat Bulaga!" In July 2016, "Imagine You and Me" was shown in cinemas as AlDub's first anniversary offering to fans. In the film, Richards and Mendoza played star-crossed lovers and were lead actors for the first time. In August 2016, Richards released a book entitled "Alden Richards: In My Own Words" under Summit Media. Aside from being a regular host in "Eat Bulaga!" and "Sunday PinaSaya", Richards' television appearances in 2016 included his participation as a contestant in "Lip Sync Battle Philippines" and as a guest in the television series "That's My Amboy", where he portrayed himself.


title: Alden Richards

text: In September 2016, Alden was included in the reboot series of "Encantadia" as Lakan (a Mulawin character). His first appearance in said fantasy series generated public interest and became a trending topic in a social media website. In the same month, Richards renewed his contract with GMA Network.


title: Alden Richards

text: In February 2017, "Destined to be Yours"; Alden Richards' first television series opposite his love team partner, Maine Mendoza was shown on GMA Network.


title: Alden Richards

text: Alden played the lead in the docudrama "Alaala: A Martial Law Special" as real-life activist Bonifacio Ilagan. Richards said it was the most difficult role he has had to tackle as an actor. The show, first broadcast in September 2017, co-starred Bianca Umali as Rizalina Ilagan, Rocco Nacino, and Gina Alajar, and was directed by Adolfo Alix Jr. and written by Bonifacio Ilagan. The special won the silver medal in the docudrama category at the New York Festivals television and film awards. Richards and program manager Joy Madrigal received the award for GMA at the awarding ceremonies.


title: Alden Richards

text: In October 2017, Alden and Maine headlined in an "Eat Bulaga!" produced television film entitled "Love Is..." with Adolfo Alix Jr. as the director.


title: Alden Richards

text: In 2018, he portrayed the titular role in the Philippine television drama action fantasy series "Victor Magtanggol".


title: Alden Richards

text: After being on movie hiatus for almost 3 years, Richards starred in a 2019 movie under Star Cinema, and he was paired with Kathryn Bernardo in "Hello, Love, Goodbye", directed by Cathy Garcia-Molina. The film became the highest grossing Filipino film of all time surpassing "The Hows of Us", which is also starred by Bernardo.


title: Alden Richards

text: In 2020, Richards joined as the lead host and one of the performers in the musical-comedy variety show "All-Out Sundays", after the cancellation of its predecessor "Sunday PinaSaya", where he previously co-hosted.


title: Alden Richards

text: Aside from being an actor, Alden Richards also does modeling stints. In 2010, he ranked 4th on the list of Candy Magazine's "Celebrity Cuties" and had his earliest modeling gig at the Candy Fair held in Pasig. Richards is a brand ambassador for a clothing brand along with co-actors JM De Guzman and Enrique Gil. In July 2012, Richards, along with Bela Padilla, Kris Bernal, and Sarah Lahbati, appeared on the cover of "MEGA" Magazine dubbed as "GMA's new breed of rising talents". Since then he has continued to appear in a number of magazines, while featuring in several"" endorsements.


title: Alden Richards

text: In 2014, Alden became an ambassador for Habitat for Humanity Philippines. In January 2015, Richards celebrated his birthday by building homes alongside other volunteers and families involved with the non-profit organization in Payatas, Quezon City. While in February 2016, as part of his post-birthday celebration, Richards visits Aeta community in Tarlac for an outreach program. After the devastation of Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in 2013, Richards had been part of relief efforts initiated by GMA Network. Richards was also part GMA Network's 2014 Christmas campaign, "#ShareTheLove", where he chose children with cancer as his beneficiaries.


title: Alden Richards

text: Alden became Boardwalk's ambassador for Young Emerging Sociopreneurs (YES) in September 2015. The campaign is focused on encouraging students to earn money while still in school. Richards also participated in Boardwalk's "Share Campaign" where part of the proceeds goes to charity. Richards was part of "Eat Bulaga! Sa Tamang Panahon" concert on October 24, 2015, held at the Philippine Arena where 14 million pesos was raised for the program's "AlDub Library Project".


title: Alden Richards

text: The GMA Network Christmas station ID theme song "MaGMAhalan Tayo Ngayong Pasko", performed by Alden, was released for online downloads. All proceeds went to the beneficiaries of GMA Kapuso Foundation's relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Lando. Richards also appeared on a charity event for children with serious diseases and a benefit concert entitled "For The Love Of Mama" on November 23, 2015, at the Mall of Asia Arena, where proceeds were used for building the Kristong Hari Parish Church in Quezon City. On April 3, 2016, Richards joined other artists in a worship concert entitled "Reborn: 1 Walker Worship Concert" at the Mall of Asia Arena. Organized by 1Walker Band headed by Regine Velasquez, the worship concert's proceeds were given to the Anawim Lay Missions Foundation, Inc.


title: Alden Richards

text: In August 2016, Alden announced that he plans to set up his own foundation to reach out to more people who are in need.


title: Alden Richards

text: In July 2020, Alden was chosen as an ambassador of "Bida Solusyon", an informative campaign formed by the Department of Health about the health protocols in preventing the spread of COVID-19. He is also the ambassador for the Philippines of "End Tuberculosis", a campaign formed by the USAID.


title: Alden Richards

text: Richards credits his paternal grandmother, Linda, with rearing him in the Catholic faith. According to Richards, he would visit seven churches, read the epic poem "Pasyon", and watch Christian-themed films such as "The Passion of the Christ", "The Ten Commandments", "Jesus of Nazareth", and "The Gospel of John" during Lent.


title: Alden Richards

text: The prestigious Guinness World Records recognized AlDub as a record-breaker in Twitter history for generating 40,706,392 tweets in the "Tamang Panahon" event at the Philippine Arena.


title: Alden Richards

text: Aside from major award giving bodies, Richards was given recognition by other organizations and magazines. In the 1st Yahoo! Philippines OMG! Awards in 2011, he was recognized as the Amazing Male Newcomer, while in 2012 and 2013, the same award-giving body nominated him as the Breakthrough Actor of the Year but lost. Richards together with Louise delos Reyes also got nominated in the Yahoo! Philippines OMG! Awards in 2013 as Love Team of the Year but they lost.


title: Alden Richards

text: During the "MEG" Top Choice Awards In 2012, the magazine MEG gave Richards the Top Fashion Forward Celeb (Male) award. While in the "Inquirer Bandera"'s 1st Bet ng "Bandera" Awards, he was given the title Male Celebrity of the Year. As for the PUSH Awards 2015 by ABS-CBN Interactive, he was nominated Awesome OOTD King but did not win. Stargate "PeopleAsia" magazine granted the title People of the Year (People's Choice Award) to Richards and Mendoza in 2016.


title: Alden Richards

text: In the 5th OFW Gawad Parangal in 2014, Richards became the Favorite Young Actor. Being an endorser, he was given the Trinitian Awardee for Most Valuable Male Advertising Endorser during Platinum Stallion Awards (Awards for Advertising) in 2016. The actor was also given a "Makabatang Alagad ng Telebisyon" (Child-friendly Artist on Television) seal by Anak TV in February 2016. During the 32nd PMPC Star Awards for Movies in 2016, he was nominated but lost the Darling of the Press award. He also won Male TV Star of the Year and Male Stylish Star of the Year for 2016 and Best PEPTalk episode on PEPList Awards Year 3 given by Philippine Entertainment Portal.


title: Blasphemy law

text: A blasphemy law is a law prohibiting blasphemy, which is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence to a deity, or sacred objects, or toward something considered sacred or inviolable. According to Pew Research Center, about a quarter of the world's countries and territories (26%) had anti-blasphemy laws or policies as of 2014.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In some states, blasphemy laws are used to protect the religious beliefs of a majority, while in other countries, they serve to offer protection of the religious beliefs of minorities.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In addition to prohibitions against blasphemy or blasphemous libel, blasphemy laws include all laws which give redress to those insulted on account of their religion. These blasphemy laws may forbid: the vilification of religion and religious groups, defamation of religion and its practitioners, denigration of religion and its followers, offending religious feelings, or the contempt of religion. Some blasphemy laws, such as those formerly existing in Denmark, do not criminalize "speech that expresses critique," but rather, "sanctions speech that insults."


title: Blasphemy law

text: Human rights experts argue for laws which adequately distinguish between protection of individuals' freedoms and laws which over-broadly restrict freedom of speech. Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights obliges countries to adopt legislative measures against "any advocacy of national racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence." However, they also note that such protections must be carefully circumscribed, and do not support prohibition of blasphemy "per se".


title: Blasphemy law

text: In a number of states with a majority-Christian or formerly majority-Christian population blasphemy laws may criminalize abusive or scurrilous speech about Christianity, and oftentimes, other religions and their adherents, as such offenses "have the tendency to lead to a breach of peace".


title: Blasphemy law

text: Emerging as a British colony in the 1780s, Australia received English common law, including the Blasphemy Act 1697. The first colonial laws were the Blasphemous and Seditious Libels Act 1827 for New South Wales (repealed in 1898), and legislation that governor Arthur Phillip enacted in Van Diemen's Land in the same year that regulated printing and publishing and prohibited 'blasphemous and seditious libels' as part of a law to maintain public order.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Australia abolished and repealed all blasphemy laws at the federal level with the Australia Criminal Code Act 1995, but blasphemy laws remain in some states and territories. The states, territories, and the Commonwealth of Australia are not uniform in their treatment of blasphemy. Blasphemy is an offence in some jurisdictions, including New South Wales (section 49 of the Defamation Act 1974 (NSW)), Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia, but is not in others. The present legal situation regarding blasphemy in the Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia and Queensland is unclear.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Austria was the birthplace of the famous European Court of Human Rights test case "E.S. v. Austria (2018)" on blasphemy, which narrowly upheld Austria's blasphemy law by suggesting the state had a legitimate aim in maintaining it, and demurred on whether or not the Prophet Mohammed could be factually described as a pedophile even if he is attested to have had sex with a prepubescent girl.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Art. 208 of the penal code states that "publicly vilifying an act or object of religious worship" is a crime punishable with one month to one year of prison, or fine.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Blasphemous libel was a crime in Canada under section 296 of the Criminal Code R.S.C., 1985, c. C-46. Subsection (1) read:


title: Blasphemy law

text: Over the summer of 2016, a petition to Parliament asking that the blasphemous libel law be repealed was circulated by several Canadian humanist groups. The petition was presented to the Government in December 2016. It responded in January 2017, stating that "blasphemous libel, along with numerous other provisions of the Criminal Code, are presently under review by the Minister [of Justice] and her officials". On 6 June 2017, Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould introduced Bill C-51 in the House of Commons, an Act to Amend the Criminal Code including repeal of section 296 of the Criminal Code relating to blasphemous libel and various other provisions of the Criminal Code which have been ruled or may be unconstitutional. The Bill passed both the House of Commons and the Senate on 11 December 2018. On 13 December 2018, the Governor General formally granted Royal Assent, making the repeal official.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In Denmark, Paragraph 140 of the penal code was about blasphemy. Since 1866, this law has only led to two convictions, in 1938 and in 1946. A further charge was brought to court in 1971, but led to acquittal. In 2017, a man was charged with blasphemy for posting a video of himself burning the Quran on social media under the slogan "Yes to freedom - no to Islam". In 2012, a survey indicated that 66% of Denmark's population still supported the blasphemy law, which made it illegal to "mock legal religions and faiths in Denmark". Before 2017, abolition of the blasphemy clause was proposed several times by members of the parliament, but failed to win a majority vote. The law was repealed on 2 June 2017 several days before the 2017 charge was due to come to trial. While public insults of a religion are no longer forbidden, speech and actions threatening or demeaning certain groups of people because of their religious beliefs continued to be punishable pursuant to §266(b) of the penal code.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Even though El Salvador is a mostly Catholic country, the constitution still protects freedom of religion under the constitution, with the Catholic Church receiving some privileges. El Salvador's penal code bans "insulting" religion and is punishable from 1-3 years in prison. People who frequently are accused of "insulting" religion are given a maximum penalty of 3-8 years in prison.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In Finland, section 10 of chapter 17 of the Criminal Code relates to blasphemy. The section is titled "Breach of the sanctity of religion", but the text of the law explicitly includes "publicly blaspheming against God" as well as defaming what is held sacred by a religious community. Unsuccessful attempts have been made to remove the particular reference to the Christian God in 1914, 1917, 1965, 1970, and most recently in 1998, when the Finnish Parliament unexpectedly voted to retain it.


title: Blasphemy law

text: This prohibition has given rise to a number of highly publicized cases in recent Finnish history. The author Hannu Salama was convicted of blasphemy for his 1964 novel "Juhannustanssit". In 1969, artist Harro Koskinen was prosecuted and fined for works including his painting "Pig Messiah", a crucified pig; the works were later displayed in art galleries. Writer and politician Jussi Halla-aho, who later became a Member of the Parliament of Finland, was fined for insinuating connections between pedophilia and Islam in a 2008 blog text.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The definition of "blasphemy" was introduced into French law in the 13th century (after great debate among the French Moralists), based on the definition given by St. Thomas Aquinas: a sin of language, "a failure to declare one's faith", thus representing an attack on the purity of religion. This justified punishment by law, which became extreme during the reign of Louis IX. Later canonized by the Catholic church as Saint Louis, he became obsessed in his fight against heretics, Jews and Muslims, and set the punishment for blasphemy to mutilation of the tongue and lips. Louis IX passed this law against blasphemy in 1254 after his return home from the Seventh Crusade.


title: Blasphemy law

text: At the beginning of the French Revolution, articles 10 and 11 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen (Déclaration des Droits de l'Homme et du Citoyen) motivated the 1791 elimination of the notion of blasphemy from French law, but it continued to prohibit the use of abusive language or disturbance of the peace. Sacrilege actions towards cultural objects became a crime in 1825 during an extreme phase of the Bourbon Restoration (1814), to be revoked under the less conservative Louis Philippe in 1830. "Religious insult" (""outrage à la morale religieuse" ") was introduced by the Act of 17 May 1819, and definitively removed from French law by the Act of 29 July 1881 which instituted freedom of the press. , and since the 1972 ratification of the European Convention of Human Rights, French law proscribed hate or violence against, and slander or libel against, people due to their membership of a religious group, nationality, ethnic group, race, sexual orientation or handicap (Art.23, 24, 32). The Act of 1881 protects individuals and groups of individuals against defamation or insult (""injure" " and ""outrage" " for foreign ambassadors), but not the divinities ( like Jesus Christ) and their doctrines as for blasphemy.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The Alsace-Moselle region was a specific exception, as it was annexed to Germany from 1871 to 1918 and therefore not part of France when the "religious insult" law was repealed. The German penal code replaced the pre-1871 French law between 1871 and 1918, and the local law in Alsace-Moselle retained some elements of both the German penal code and pre-1871 French law when the regions reverted to France in 1919, like the religious legislation and the articles 166 and 167. This long included a ban of "blasphemy" (as translated from the German word "lästerung") against Christianity and Judaism, without mention of Islam which at the time had very few followers in Alsace. Since the dispositions of article 166 were not among those finally transposed officially in French law since the Act of 1 June 1924, whose article 1 and 1 s) introduced as well in Alsace-Moselle the generally referred to Act of 29 July 1881, then translated into French in 2013 by the decrees n•2013-395 and particularly n•2013-776, they received no application since then, as the appeal court of Colmar refused to apply this article in 1954, contrary to article 167 (obstacle to the exercise of worship). The minister of justice replied to some senators that article 166 was already implicitly repealed because contrary to the French fundamental law. Its validity could have also been questioned by a court since 1975 and by a prioritary question of constitutionality since 2008. In response to the "Charlie Hebdo" attack and with the full support of the Alsatian churches, an October 2016 vote of the French parliament symbolically repealed this long-dormant Alsace-Moselle "blasphemy" law which was long implicitly unenforceable.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In Germany, religious defamation is covered by Article 166 of the Strafgesetzbuch, the German criminal law. If a deed is capable of disturbing the public peace, defamation is actionable. The article reads as follows:


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 2006, the application of this article received much media attention when a Manfred van H. (also known as "Mahavo") was prosecuted for defamation for distributing rolls of toilet paper with the words "Koran, the Holy Koran" stamped on them. The defendant claimed he wanted to protest the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004 and the London bombings of 2005. Beyond the sentence he also received death threats from Islamists and needed a police bodyguard.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Until 2019, articles 198, 199, and 201 of the Greek Penal Code created offenses which involved blasphemy. Article 198 "Malicious Blasphemy" provided:


title: Blasphemy law

text: Article 199 "Blasphemy Concerning Religions" restated most of Article 198, and criminalized blasphemy against the Greek Orthodox Church.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Greece had not used its laws about blasphemy to protect any religion other than the Greek Orthodox Church, which is the state church of Greece. In December 2003, Greece prosecuted for blasphemy Gerhard Haderer, an Austrian, along with his Greek publisher and four booksellers. Haderer is the author of an illustrated, humorous book entitled "The Life of Jesus". The prosecutor contended that the book's depiction of Jesus as a hippie was blasphemous. On 13 April 2005, the Court of Appeal of Athens, reversed the judgment of the Court of First Instance, and acquitted Haderer.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Greece complemented its laws against blasphemy with laws against "religious insult". The laws forbade the creation, display or trade in work that "insults public sentiment" or that "offends people's religious sentiments".


title: Blasphemy law

text: The new Criminal Code, which came into force in July 2019, under the Syriza government, removed articles 198 and 199, thus ending its ban on blasphemy.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The conservative New Democracy government initially announced in November its intention to reintroduce the criminalization of blasphemy, with punishment up to two years in jail but backtracked on the announcement following a domestic and international outcry.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The Icelandic blasphemy law was repealed on 2 July 2015, after a strong push by the Icelandic Pirate Party and a number of associations including Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association (Siðmennt), the bishop of Iceland, the Icelandic priesthood, the Association of Publishers, PEN Iceland, IMMI (The International Modern Media Institute) an Icelandic-based international organization of information and freedom of expression, and an atheist group called Vantrú. Formerly, blasphemy was forbidden with a fine or prison sentence up to three months (Article 125 of the General Penal Code of Iceland, enacted on 12 February 1940). The constitution also mentions the state religion and religion in general.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In Ireland, blasphemy against any form of religion was prohibited by the 2009 Defamation Act until its repeal on 17 January 2020. Blasphemy against Christianity was prohibited by the constitution and carried a maximum fine of €25,000; however, the offence of blasphemous libel, last prosecuted in 1855 in connection to an alleged Bible-burning, was ruled in 1999 to be incompatible with the Constitution's guarantee of religious equality. A controversial law was passed on 9 July 2009 and went into effect on 1 January 2010. The law prohibited publishing or uttering "matter that is grossly abusive or insulting in relation to matters held sacred by any religion, thereby causing outrage among a substantial number of the adherents of that religion".


title: Blasphemy law

text: The Irish Constitutional Convention in 2013 recommended, and the Government endorsed, the repeal of the constitutional prohibition on blasphemy (Article 40.6.1.i.), but the Taoiseach indicated to postpone the issue. Calls for repeal resurged after the January 2015 "Charlie Hebdo" shooting.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The law had not been invoked until in February 2015 English comedian Stephen Fry, when asked during an RTÉ programme what he might say to God at the gates of heaven, responded, without specifying any religion,


title: Blasphemy law

text: An allegation of blasphemy was made to police at the time, and in 2017 police contacted Fry to inform him that the incident was being investigated. News of the investigation caused a big stir, but a few days later it was reported that the police, the Garda Síochána, had dropped the case as there was no injured party. The Garda Síochána could not find enough people outraged over the actor's anti-God remarks. One individual complaint alone cannot result in a prosecution under the legislation and only one viewer made a formal complaint against Fry's comments. The complainant said that he was not personally offended by the programme but simply believed that the comments made by Fry on RTÉ were criminal blasphemy and that he was doing his civic duty by reporting a crime.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In June 2018, the Irish government agreed to a referendum to remove the offense of blasphemy from the Constitution. The referendum, which took place on 26 October 2018, abolished the constitutional ban on blasphemy by a margin of 64.85% to 35.15%. In January 2020, Minister of Justice and Equality Charles Flanagan signed an order commencing an amendment to the law. Until then, blasphemy had been prohibited by sections 36 and 37 of the Defamation Act 2009, for which offenders could face a fine of up to €25,000.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 2021, the Irish government proposed legislation criminalizing hate speech. Previously, Irish politicians Mattie McGrath and Keith Redmond stated that hate speech legislation was "secular blasphemy law" in their unsuccessful attempts to oppose it.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In Italy, under article 724 of the Penal Code, blasphemy in public is considered an "administrative offense" and punished with a fine ranging from €51 to €309.


title: Blasphemy law

text: First introduced in 1930 under Mussolini, blasphemy was decriminalized as per art.57, d.lgs. n.507 of 30 December 1999.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Following a ruling of the Corte Costituzionale in sentence n.440 of 18 October 1995, the law punishes only blasphemy against the "Deity". Article 404 of the penal code also punishes public offenses to religion, and has been invoked against artists using religious imagery in satirical art.


title: Blasphemy law

text: At the end of July 2019, public blasphemy was also made illegal on the local level in the Italian town of Saonara, punishing alleged blasphemers with a fine of €400.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Instead of a law against blasphemy, Malta had laws against the vilification of religion, and against immorality. Enacted in 1933, Article 163 of Malta's Criminal Code prohibited "vilification of the Roman Catholic Apostolic Religion", which is Malta's state religion. Vilification of Malta's religion made the vilifier liable to imprisonment for a term from one to six months. By Article 164, vilification of any cult "tolerated by law" made the vilifier liable to imprisonment for a term from one to three months. Article 338(bb) imposes liability upon anyone who, "even though in a state of intoxication, publicly utters any obscene or indecent words, or makes obscene acts or gestures, or in any other manner not otherwise provided for in this Code, offends against public morality, propriety or decency". Article 342 provides:


title: Blasphemy law

text: In July 2016, the parliament of Malta repealed articles 163 and 164 of the criminal code, the country's blasphemy laws.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Nigeria prohibits blasphemy by section 204 of its Criminal Code and by permitting Sharia courts to operate in some states. Vigilantism frequently usurps the jurisdiction of the courts.


title: Blasphemy law

text: With the introduction of the Dutch Criminal Code of 1881, in force since 1886, the Netherlands obtained its first law against blasphemy. The Minister of Justice argued that, although God would be perfectly capable of protecting his own rights, the Dutch legislator had to 'protect the rights of society'.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 1932, a bill was proposed to tighten the 1886 law. Parliament was divided between confessional and non-confessional parties, but also between different confessional parties on the question whether the purpose of the bill was protecting God or religion, or religious people. The bill passed on 1 June 1932 with 49 against 44 votes in the House, 28 against 18 votes in the Senate, and was adopted on 4 November 1932.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Article 147 punished (by up to three months in jail or a fine of the second category (i.e. up to €3,800)) anyone who publicly, orally or in writing or depiction, offends religious feelings by scornful blasphemy. Furthermore, article 429bis prohibited displaying blasphemous material at places visible from the public road. The law came into being in the 1930s after the Communist Party called for Christmas to be dropped from the list of state holidays. The last successful conviction under Article 147 took place in the early 1960s when a student newspaper was fined 100 guilders for satirizing the "New Testament". The law against blasphemy complements laws against racial discrimination and incitement to violence.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 1966, the Public Prosecution Service prosecuted writer Gerard Reve under Article 147. In his novel "Nader tot U" (""Nearer to Thee""), Reve describes the narrator's sexual intercourse with God, who is incarnated in a donkey. The court of first instance convicted Reve, but he appealed. In April 1968, an appeals court quashed the conviction. This effectively made the Dutch blasphemy law dead letter.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In November 2008, Justice Minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin expressed the country's coalition government's intent to repeal Article 147. He said the government would strengthen the legislation against discrimination to prohibit any insult to any group of people. In May 2009, the government decided to leave the law as it is. The decision followed a high court ruling in which a man who had put up a poster that read "stop the tumour that is Islam" was found not guilty of insulting a group of people on the grounds of their religion. The decision not to abolish the ban on blasphemy was partly motivated to ensure the support of the orthodox Christian SGP for the minority government in the senate. After a general election in 2012, a new coalition government was formed and a majority of parliament pledged to support a proposal to repeal the blasphemy law.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In November 2012, parliament decided to overturn the blasphemy laws. It would pass with support from the VVD, but the fundamentalist Christian group SGP were strongly opposed to the measure. According to the SGP, the decision to lift the ban on blasphemy is a "painful loss of a moral anchor and a symptom of a spiritual crisis".


title: Blasphemy law

text: In New Zealand, Section 123 of the Crimes Act 1961 allowed for imprisonment of up to one year for anyone who published any "blasphemous libel". Cases were only prosecuted at the discretion of the New Zealand Attorney-General, who usually cited overriding free speech objections so as not to pursue such a case. The only prosecution for blasphemous libel in New Zealand was the case of John Glover, publisher of the newspaper "The Maoriland Worker", in 1922. Glover was acquitted.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The British comedy film "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979) about a fictional Jewish man living at the same time and neighbourhood as Jesus Christ, generated significant international controversy and was banned in several countries including Ireland and Norway. Hundreds of letters were sent to the Film Censor's Office to have the film banned in New Zealand as well on the grounds of it being 'blasphemous' against the Christian faith, but the Chief Censor of Films responded by stating that they had found no evidence of blasphemy or sacrilegiousness in the film.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In March 2018, Justice Minister Andrew Little (Labour Party) introduced a Crimes Amendment Bill that included repeal of Section 123, the crime of blasphemous libel. The bill passed the third reading on 5 March 2019 with the unanimous support of parliament, received the royal assent on 11 March and came into force on 12 March 2019. An earlier Labour repeal attempt in 2017 was blocked by the then governing National Party.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 2009, the Norwegian Parliament voted to remove the dormant law against blasphemy (§ 142 in the penal code). It was, however, removed from the penal code of 2005, which did not come into force until October 2015. Therefore, blasphemy was illegal until 2015 under the old Penal Code of 1902.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The famous writer and social activist Arnulf Øverland was the last to be tried by this law, in 1933, after giving a speech named "Kristendommen – den tiende landeplage" ("Christianity – the tenth plague"), but was acquitted. The last person sentenced for blasphemy in Norway was Arnfred Olsen in 1912, and he had to pay a fine of 10 Norwegian krone.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The British comedy film "Monty Python's Life of Brian" (1979) was briefly banned in Norway by the authorities in early 1980, because it 'was believed to commit the crime of blasphemy by violating people's religious feelings'. However, the ban was lifted in October 1980 after a group of theologians who had seen the film produced a statement saying that there was no good reason for a total ban. "Life of Brian" was allowed on the big screen, provided with a poster at the beginning which stated that Brian was not Jesus. It was then marketed in Sweden as "The film so funny that it was banned in Norway".


title: Blasphemy law

text: "Crimes against religious worship" are stated under section four of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines. Under article 132 and 133, respectively, "interruption of religious worship" and "offending the religious feelings" are punishable by law. "Interruption of religious worship" is defined as "preventing or disturbing the ceremonies or manifestations of any religion" and "offending the religious feelings" is defined as "performing acts notoriously offensive to the feelings of the faithful" in a place devoted to religious worship or during the celebration of any religious ceremony.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Penalties range from imprisonment of four months and a day to six months; crimes that involve violence or threats can carry a penalty of up to six years in jail.


title: Blasphemy law

text: While Poland's penal code makes no reference to any sort of blasphemy law, it states that "Whoever offends religious feelings of other people by publicly insulting an object of religious cult or a place for public holding of religious ceremonies, is subject to a fine, restriction of liberty or loss of liberty for up to 2 years". The article has been used by pro-Church politicians and activists on numerous occasions, whenever they felt their religious feelings had been offended in any way. Opponents of the article maintain that due to its vagueness it is abused by seriously limiting the freedom of speech and effectively preventing any kind of debate on Church's sexual crimes and the Church's widespread influence on social, sexual and political life of Poland.


title: Blasphemy law

text: A notable conviction on the basis of this law was that of the pop singer Dorota "Doda" Rabczewska who in 2012 was fined for the amount of 5,000 złotych for saying in an interview that the Bible was written by people 'drunk on wine and smoking some kind of herbs'. Her complaint was rejected by the Constitutional Tribunal, which confirmed that the law did not violate the Constitution. In March 2019, a notable Polish journalist Jerzy Urban was fined 120,000 złotych (around US$30,000) and additional 28,000 PLN of court costs for publishing an image of "christ astonished" in his newspaper "NIE".


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 2022 United Poland part of the ruling government called for tougher blasphemy laws in Poland, such as three-year jail terms for insulting church or interrupting mass.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In October 2022, they submitted a citizens' legislative initiative for the tougher blasphemy laws with close to 400,000 signatures to parliament.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Romania does not have any blasphemy laws in force. According to Romanian law, "cults, religious associations and religious groups ... must not infringe upon ... fundamental human rights and liberties", which, according to the Constitution of Romania, include freedom of conscience and freedom of expression.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In May 2011, a National Liberal deputy proposed a bill for the prevention of religious intolerance, which would have criminalized blasphemy. The bill was withdrawn, however, later that month.


title: Blasphemy law

text: After the Pussy Riot incident, Russian lawmakers started considering a bill proposing prison sentences for desecration. The State Duma investigated "the situation of sacrilegious acts against Church property and proposed amendments to the Russian Penal Code" in their 2012 Autumn Session. The Union of Orthodox Citizens and MP of United Russia supported the proposal, the latter stating: "We really should make some amendments to the Penal Code in order to cool down these outcasts who have nothing else to do in their lives other than commit such offenses."


title: Blasphemy law

text: The bill was accepted 11 June 2013. According to art.148 of Russian Criminal Code 1 it is declared a federal crime to conduct "public actions clearly defying the society and committed with the express purpose of insulting religious beliefs". Part 2 of the same article establishes stricter punishments for the aforementioned actions when coupled with desecration of holy symbols and (or) religious texts.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Blasphemy is a common law offence in South Africa, defined as "unlawfully, intentionally and publicly acting contemptuously towards God." Several legal writers have suggested that the illegality of blasphemy has become unconstitutional as a result of the adoption in 1994 of the Bill of Rights, which includes the right to freedom of expression. It has also been suggested that it is unconstitutional because the criminal prohibition only applies to blasphemy against Christianity, and therefore discriminates on the basis of religion.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Blasphemy prosecutions have been rare since the start of the twentieth century, to the point that writers in the early part of the century suggested that the crime had been abrogated through disuse. However, in 1934 a newspaper editor was convicted of blasphemy for publishing a story in which a nun has a vision of a sexual relationship with Jesus Christ, and the validity of the conviction was affirmed by the Appellate Division. In 1962 Harold Rubin was prosecuted for a painting depicting Christ naked on the cross along with inversions of Biblical sayings, but he was acquitted. In 1968 the editor of "Varsity" was prosecuted for publishing a report of a symposium on the topic "Is God Dead?", which quoted statements that "We must write God off entirely" and "[God] is beginning to stink". He was convicted, but at sentencing received only a caution and discharge.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The Equality Act of 2000 forbids hate speech, which is defined as "words based on one or more of the prohibited grounds, against any person, that could reasonably be construed to demonstrate a clear intention to: (a) be hurtful; (b) be harmful or to incite harm; (c) promote or propagate hatred." The "prohibited grounds" include religion, and thus some blasphemous speech falls within the scope of hate speech. The prohibition of hate speech is, however, not a criminal prohibition, and only civil penalties would result.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 1988, the Spanish Parliament removed the blasphemy law from their legal system. However, article 525 of the Penal Code in Spain considers "vilification" of religious "feelings", "dogmas", "beliefs" or "rituals". This extension to "dogmas" and "beliefs" is considered by some as very close to a blasphemy law in practice.


title: Blasphemy law

text: For instance, in 2012 it was used to prosecute a famous artist, Javier Krahe, for a scene (shot 34 years earlier, and lasting just 54 seconds) in a documentary about him. He was discharged the same year.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 2018, following the case of Willy Toledo and three feminist protesters accused of blasphemy, the governing PSOE and supporting party Unidas Podemos pledged an end to the "medieval laws on offending religious sentiments and insult to the Crown". Legislation was suspended following the announcement of the 2019 Spanish general election. The government and its allies were subsequently returned to power, which means the proposals will now likely return to the national parliament.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Swedish laws do not prohibit blasphemy. In Sweden the 20th century saw the public adoption of the principle that religion was a personal matter. King Erik XIV had introduced a law in 1563 that specifically protected religion. That was followed by similar Acts until 1949, when they were replaced by an Act on "Peace of Faith" which was a milder form of restriction. In 1970, the 1949 Act was repealed and a new Act was introduced on "agitation against a specific group of people". The new Act protects minority groups who share "race, skin colour, national or ethnic origin, faith or sexual orientation". Thus, the Act does not protect any religion as such, but instead can protect the religion's practitioners. The new Act has most often been enforced when Jews and homosexuals have been attacked.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In Switzerland, Article 261 of the penal code titled "Attack on the freedom of faith and the freedom to worship" (Störung der Glaubens- und Kultusfreiheit) is defined as:


title: Blasphemy law

text: Any person who publicly and maliciously insults or mocks the religious convictions of others, and in particularly their belief in God, or maliciously desecrates objects of religious veneration,


title: Blasphemy law

text: any person who maliciously prevents, disrupts or publicly mocks an act of worship, the conduct of which is guaranteed by the Constitution, or


title: Blasphemy law

text: any person who maliciously desecrates a place or object that is intended for a religious ceremony or an act of worship the conduct of which is guaranteed by the Constitution,


title: Blasphemy law

text: The Constitution of Tanzania defines it as a secular state (Article 3), and protects freedom of expression (Article 18), freedom of conscience, faith and choice in matters of religion (Article 19). However, these provisions are not always upheld in practice. Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous island of Tanzania with its own constitution and a separate judicial system of "Khadi's" courts that may apply sharia in certain cases.


title: Blasphemy law

text: On mainland Tanzania, the Penal Code criminalises acts of sacrilege (destroying, damaging or defiling buildings or objects 'held sacred by any class of persons') and acts of uttering words with intent to wound religious feelings of any person under Articles 125 and 129 respectively; both count as misdemeanours that may be punished with imprisonment for up to one year. No information is available regarding whether or to what extent this provision is enforced. In Zanzibar, Section XIV of the Penal Decree Act of 2004 similarly criminalises acts of sacrilege (Article 117); Article 21 clarifies that this offence is punishable by imprisonment not exceeding two years and/or a fine. Uttering words with the intent to wound the religious feelings of any other person is punishable by imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year (Article 121).


title: Blasphemy law

text: In July 2012, Eva Abdulla was sentenced to two years' imprisonment on charges of blasphemy after she was accused of having urinated on a Quran. Abdullah was acquitted on appeal and released in January 2013.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The United Kingdom is made up of four distinct parts and several legal jurisdictions. In criminal justice matters, these jurisdictions are England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Blasphemy laws dating back to the medieval times were abolished in England and Wales in 2008 and Scotland in 2021. Equivalent laws remain in Northern Ireland but have not been used for many years.


title: Blasphemy law

text: English blasphemy laws were historically defended with the following reasoning: the "[blasphemy] law is needed to uphold the national law, which is based on Christianity. Thus, targeting Christianity is targeting the very foundation of England."


title: Blasphemy law

text: The last attempted prosecution under these laws was in 2007 when the evangelical group Christian Voice sought a private prosecution against the BBC over its broadcasting of the show "" (which includes a scene depicting Jesus, dressed as a baby, professing to be "a bit gay"). The charges were rejected by the City of Westminster magistrates court. Christian Voice applied to have this ruling overturned by the High Court, but the application was rejected. The court found that the common law blasphemy offences specifically did not apply to stage productions (s. 2(4) of the Theatres Act 1968) and broadcasts (s. 6 of the Broadcasting Act 1990).


title: Blasphemy law

text: The last successful blasphemy prosecution (also a private prosecution) was "Whitehouse v. Lemon" in 1977, when Denis Lemon, the editor of "Gay News", was found guilty. His newspaper had published James Kirkup's poem "The Love that Dares to Speak its Name", which allegedly vilified Christ and his life. Lemon was fined £500 and given a suspended sentence of nine months' imprisonment. It had been "touch and go", said the judge, whether he would actually send Lemon to jail. In 2002, a deliberate and well-publicized public repeat reading of the poem took place on the steps of St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, but did not lead to any prosecution.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 1696, a Scottish court sentenced Thomas Aikenhead to death for blasphemy. The last prosecution for blasphemy in Scotland was in 1843.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The last person in Britain to be imprisoned for blasphemy was John William Gott on 9 December 1921. He had three previous convictions for blasphemy when he was prosecuted for publishing two pamphlets which satirized the biblical story of Jesus entering Jerusalem (Matthew 21:2–7), comparing Jesus to a circus clown. He was sentenced to nine months' hard labour.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In 1985, the Law Commission (England and Wales) published a report, "Criminal Law: Offences against Religious and Public Worship", that concluded that the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel should be abolished without replacement. On 5 March 2008, an amendment was passed to the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 which abolished the common law offences of blasphemy and blasphemous libel in England and Wales. (Common law is abolished, not repealed.) The Act received royal assent on 8 May 2008, and the relevant section came into force on 8 July 2008.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The 1989 film "Visions of Ecstasy" was the only film ever banned in the UK for blasphemy. Following the abolition of the blasphemy laws in England and Wales in 2008, the film was eventually classified by the BBFC for release as 18-rated in 2012.


title: Blasphemy law

text: England and Wales abolished their blasphemy law in 2008. On 24 April 2020, the Scottish Government published a new bill that sought to reform hate crime legislation to provide better protection against race, sex, age and religious discrimination, and also decriminalised blasphemy. This bill was approved by Holyrood on 11 March 2021 and the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 received royal assent on 23 April 2021. The abolition of the common law of blasphemy will take effect when section 16 of the Act is brought into force by commencement order Humanists UK, that had been campaigning for repealing Scotland's blasphemy law since 2015, welcomed the bill.


title: Blasphemy law

text: A prosecution for blasphemy in the United States would be a violation of the U.S. Constitution, and no blasphemy laws exist at the federal level. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution (adopted in 1791) provides: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press ...


title: Blasphemy law

text: Before winning their independence from the British Empire in the late 18th century, some of the British colonies in North America such as the Province of Massachusetts Bay had blasphemy laws. The 1791 First Amendment effectively put an end to them in the new American republic.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Because of the First Amendment's protection of free speech and religious exercise from federal interference, and the Supreme Court's extension of those protections against state regulation, the United States and its constituent state governments may not prosecute blasphemous speech or religious insults and may not allow civil actions on those grounds. In "Joseph Burstyn, Inc. v. Wilson", the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1952 that New York could not enforce a censorship law against filmmakers whose films contained "sacrilegious" content. The opinion of the Court, by Justice Clark, stated that: From the standpoint of freedom of speech and the press, it is enough to point out that the state has no legitimate interest in protecting any or all religions from views distasteful to them which is sufficient to justify prior restraints upon the expression of those views. It is not the business of government in our nation to suppress real or imagined attacks upon a particular religious doctrine, whether they appear in publications, speeches, or motion pictures.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The United States and some individual state jurisdictions provide for stronger criminal penalties for crimes when committed against a person because of that person's religious or some other affiliations. For instance, Section 3A1.1 of the 2009 United States Sentencing Guidelines states that: "If the finder of fact at trial or, in the case of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere, the court at sentencing determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant intentionally selected any victim or any property as the object of the offense of conviction because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person," the sentencing court is required to increase the standard sentencing range.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In a number of countries where Islam is the state religion or where Muslims are a majority, values and attitudes derived from Islam have influenced censorious laws criminalising blasphemy, often attached to heavy punishments. Blasphemy in Islam is broadly defined as impious utterance or action concerning God, Muhammad or anything considered sacred in Islam. The Islamic holy book, the Quran, admonishes blasphemy, but does not specify the punishment. The hadiths, which are another source of sharia, suggest various punishments for blasphemy, including death.


title: Blasphemy law

text: An Islamic emirate, Afghanistan prohibits blasphemy as an offense under Sharia. Blasphemy can be punished by retaliatory penalties up to and including execution by hanging. Since the Taliban takeover in 2021, people have been arrested for blasphemy.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Although ninety-nine percent of Algeria's population is Sunni Muslim, and the Constitution declares that Islam is the state religion, Algeria uses retaliatory legislation rather than Sharia to combat blasphemy against Islam. The penalty for blasphemy can be up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Bangladesh forbids blasphemy by a provision in its penal code that prohibits "hurting religious sentiments", and by other laws and policies that attack freedom of speech.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In April 2013, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rejected calls for new laws from radical Islamist groups, notably Hefajat-e Islam, demanding death penalty for people involved in blasphemy. She described Bangladesh as a "secular democracy, where every religion had a right to be practiced freely and fairly", and that "if anyone was found guilty of hurting the sentiments of the followers of any religion or its venerable figures, there was a law to deal with it".


title: Blasphemy law

text: Article 98(f) of the Egyptian Penal Code, as amended by Law 147/2006 states the penalty for blasphemy and similar crimes:


title: Blasphemy law

text: Article 156(a) of Indonesia's Criminal Code forbids anyone from deliberately, in public, expressing feelings of hostility, hatred, or contempt against religions with the purpose of preventing others from adhering to any religion, and forbids anyone from disgracing a religion. The penalty for violating Article 156(a) is a maximum of five years of imprisonment.


title: Blasphemy law

text: An Islamic theocracy, Iran derives its law against blasphemy from Sharia. The law against blasphemy complements laws against criticizing the Islamic government, insulting Islam, and publishing materials that deviate from Islamic standards.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Article 273 of Jordan's Penal Code criminalizes "scorning or reviling any of the Prophets" with imprisonment for up to three years. While article 278 criminalizes "publishing anything that would insult the religious feelings or religious beliefs of other people".


title: Blasphemy law

text: Article 6 of Kuwait's cybercrime laws mention a punishment of up to 12 months in prison and a 20,000 KWD (US$66,000) fine for insulting "God, the Holy Quran, Prophets, the Noble Companions of Prophet Muhammad, Wives of the Prophet, or persons who are part of the Prophet's family".


title: Blasphemy law

text: Malaysia prevents insult to religion and to the religious by education, by restrictions upon the broadcasting and publishing media, and by the legal system. Some states in the Malaysian federation operate Sharia courts to protect Islam, and, when Sharia is not applicable, the Malaysian Penal Code provides penalties for offenses against religion.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The crime of apostasy is defined in section IV (entitled Act of Indecency toward Islam) of the Mauritanian Penal Code, established under the order of 9 July 1983. Article 306, paragraph 1 of the criminal code indicates, "Every Muslim guilty of the crime of apostasy, either by word or by action of apparent or obvious, will be invited to repent within three days."


title: Blasphemy law

text: More people are on death row or serving life sentences for blasphemy in Pakistan than in any other country in the world.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The anti-blasphemy laws in Pakistan are quite complicated. Offenders may be vigorously prosecuted. Chapter XV of Pakistan Penal Code deals with "offences relating to religion":


title: Blasphemy law

text: There is a death penalty for blasphemy in Pakistan (only under section 295 c). Those prosecuted are usually minorities such as Ahmadiyya and Christians but it seems that they are also increasingly other Muslims. Persons accused of blasphemy as well as police, lawyers, and judges have been subject to harassment, threats, attacks, and murders when blasphemy is the issue.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In November 2008 Pakistan's government appointed Shahbaz Bhatti as Federal Minister for Minorities and gave him cabinet rank. Bhatti had promised that the Asif Ali Zardari government would review Pakistan's blasphemy laws. Pakistan has been an active supporter of the campaign by the Organisation of the Islamic Conference to create global laws against blasphemy.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Minister Bhatti was shot dead on 2 March 2011 in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. On 19 March 2014, Pakistani English-language newspaper, "The Nation", conducted a poll of its readers that showed 68% of Pakistanis believe the blasphemy law should be repealed.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In September 2016 a sixteen-year-old Christian teenage boy, Nabeel Chohan, was arrested in Pakistan after he "liked" a Facebook post that was allegedly blasphemous. According to Punjab Police, the teenager was jailed and was awaiting trial for sharing the post on social media.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In November 2017 an obscure Islamist group Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah Pakistan in Pakistan staged a sit-in in the capital Islamabad. They forced the government to abandon an amendment to the oath sworn by election candidates that allowed for a variation in the oath because of the candidates religious beliefs. They also caused the law minister Zahid Hamid to resign.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The Palestinian National Authority has several provisions in civil and military law against blasphemy. An infamous 2010 case, in which these were employed to attempt a prosecution, was that of Waleed Al-Husseini, a young man from the West Bank town of Qalqilya who had left Islam to become an atheist, and openly challenged and ridiculed religion online. He was arrested without charges and jailed in October 2010, after which the Palestinian Authority alleged Al-Husseini had committed blasphemy on the Internet. A Palestinian human rights expert at the time expected Al-Husseini to be tried according to a 1960 Jordanian law against defaming religion, which was still in force in the West Bank. Instead, Al-Husseini was charged with three counts of incitement according to the Palestine Military Code of Justice, namely: "inciting religious hatred" (Article 177), "insulting religious leaders" (Article 225 and 226/B), and "offending religious views" (Article 230/A). He was eventually released after 10 months in prison due to heavy international diplomatic pressure, primarily exerted by France.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The penalty for committing blasphemy in Qatar is a jail sentence of up to seven years. Additionally, the law stipulates a one-year prison sentence or QR1,000 fine for defamation of Islam by producing or promoting defamatory imagery.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Religious criticism on websites is censored in Qatar. The censorship office of the Qatar General Broadcasting and Television Corporation monitors imported foreign broadcasting for sensitive religious content.


title: Blasphemy law

text: A blasphemy accusation against a Muslim could be taken as 'evidence' of apostasy from Islam, a separate criminal offence which carries the death penalty. However, no punishment for apostasy has been recorded since 1971.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Islam is Saudi Arabia's state religion. The country's monarchy follows Sunni Islam. The country's laws are an amalgam of rules from Sharia, royal edicts, and fatawa from the Council of Senior Religious Scholars; they prescribe penalties up to the death penalty for blasphemy.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Section 125 of the Sudanese Criminal Act prohibits "insulting religion, inciting hatred and showing contempt for religious beliefs". The section includes as penalties: imprisonment, a fine, and a maximum of forty lashes. In November 2007, the section gave rise to the Sudanese teddy bear blasphemy case. In December 2007, the section was used against two Egyptian booksellers. They were sentenced to six months in prison because they sold a book that the court deemed an insult to Aisha, one of Prophet Mohammed's wives.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In May 2005, the authorities arrested Mohammed Taha Mohammed Ahmed, and charged him with violating section 125. Ahmed was the editor-in-chief of a daily newspaper "Al-Wifaq". The paper had published an article about a 500-year-old Islamic manuscript which says the real name of Mohammed's father was not Abdallah but Abdel Lat, or "Slave of Lat", an idol of the pre-Islamic era. A court fined Al-Wifaq eight million Sudanese pounds—the paper was shut down for three months—but acquitted Ahmed. Ahmed was found decapitated in September 2006.


title: Blasphemy law

text: In July 2020, Sudan repealed its apostasy law (Article 126 of the Penal Code). The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) applauded this on 15 July 2020, but urged Sudanese lawmakers to repeal the blasphemy law (Article 125 of the Sudanese Penal Code) as well.


title: Blasphemy law

text: Article 216 of the Turkish Penal Code ("Provoking people to be rancorous and hostile") criminalizes blasphemy and religious insult, as well as hate speech. The article, which is in the fifth section of the Turkish Penal Code ("Offenses Against Public Peace") is as follows:


title: Blasphemy law

text: On 1 June 2012, pianist Fazıl Say came under investigation by the Istanbul Prosecutor's Office over statements made on Twitter, declaring himself an atheist and retweeting a message poking fun at the Islamic conception of paradise. On 15 April 2013, Say was sentenced to 10 months in jail, reduced from 12 months for good behavior in court. The sentence was suspended, meaning he was allowed to move freely provided he did not repeat the offence in the next five years. On appeal, Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals reversed the conviction on 26 October 2015, ruling that Say's Twitter posts fell within the bounds of freedom of thought and freedom of expression.


title: Blasphemy law

text: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) law against blasphemy is governed by article 312 of the United Arab Emirates Penal Code. The country's state religion is Islam. According to the article, the following offences if perpetrated publicly shall be a subject to a jail sentence for a minimum period of one year or a fine:


title: Blasphemy law

text: Accusations of blasphemy in Yemen are often aimed at religious minorities, intellectuals and artists, reporters, human rights defenders, and opponents of the ruling party. Vigilantism or abuse by the authorities can kill an accused or force them into exile. The accused in Yemen is subject to Islamic law (Sharia). Sharia, according to some interpretations, prescribes death as the proper punishment for blasphemy.


title: Blasphemy law

text: China, officially an atheist state, banned a book titled ""Xing Fengsu"" ("Sexual Customs"), which had allegedly insulted Islam, and placed its authors under arrest in 1989, after protests in Lanzhou and Beijing by Chinese Hui Muslims, during which the Chinese police provided protection to the Hui Muslim protestors, and the Chinese government organized public burnings of the book. The Chinese government assisted them and gave into their demands because Hui do not have a separatist movement, unlike the Uyghurs, Hui Muslim protestors who violently rioted by vandalizing property during the protests against the book were let off by the Chinese government and went unpunished while Uyghur protestors were imprisoned.