Irish police abandon Stephen Fry blasphemy investigation
Irish police have halted their blasphemy investigation focusing on Stephen Fry because they couldn’t find enough people who were offended by his comments.
The complaint was lodged by a member of the public after a 2015 television interview where Fry, an atheist, described what he’d say God if they met at the pearly gates.
Fry told interviewer Gay Byrne’s show The Meaning of Life that he’d question God about some of the injustices in the world.
“I’ll say: bone cancer in children, what’s that about?” he said.
“How dare you. How dare you create a world in which there is such misery that’s not our fault? It’s not right. It’s utterly, utterly evil.
“Why should I respect a capricious, mean-minded, stupid God who creates a world which is so full of injustice and pain?”
The man who made the initial complaint to police has said that he was not personally offended by Fry’s comments, but felt it was his civic duty to report the crime.
Under Ireland’s Defamation Act 2009 a person who publishes or utters blasphemous material “shall be guilty of an offence”. People found guilty of the crime can be fined up to £25,000.
Ireland is the only country to introduce a blasphemy law this century.
Police have abandoned their investigation because they have been unable to find enough people who were offended.
Atheist Ireland, a group who campaign against the law, says the case shows how dangerous and absurd the law is. They are calling for a referendum to be held to change the laws.
OIP Staff
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