Does freedom of speech include the freedom to criticize Islam? Not in Italy, apparently. Says the IHT:

These are dangerous times for writers or artists who tread into the always sensitive territory of religion, as incidents ranging from the fatwa against Salman Rushdie to the destruction of an art exhibition in Moscow have shown. But it is disheartening to see representatives of democratic government take the side of those who believe respect for religion justifies censorship. That’s what happened when an Italian judge, citing a law forbidding “outrages against religion,” ordered the journalist and writer Oriana Fallaci to stand trial over a book that includes provocative assertions about Islam.

Robert Spencer has much more.

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