Hizb ut Tahrir goes to European Court

The German branch of Hizb ut Tahrir, an international Islamist group whose activities have been banned for five years in Germany, is appealing to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg to have the ban overturned. It was charged in 2003 with spreading antisemitic propaganda, more recently with breaching the 'concept of international understanding' in the German constitution - a charge usually used for parties on the right.

Germany is the only EU member state to ban Hizb ut Tahrir, although the UK keeps thinking about doing so as well. Denmark's senior state prosecutor last week said that it should not be banned, as it has not breached the Danish constitution.

At stake here is the concept of whether a 'non-violent' group that calls for a global Islamic caliphate under sharia law is compatible with Western law and values. I hope the Court will probe the conditions required by a global caliphate, in particular the rights to be accorded to non-Muslims, apostates, women and homosexuals - for starters.

See more here (thanks to Islam in Europe).