Mark Steyn acquitted in Canadian sharia case

Thank you and congratulations, Mark Steyn, for standing up for the West. (Steyn is a fellow member of the Islamophobia Dirty Dozen!)
The verdict in the outrageous sharia “hate speech” case is up at Mark’s site.
From Kathy Shaidle:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MARK STEYN NOT GUILTY OF “FLAGRANT ISLAMOPHOBIA,”
SAYS TRIBUNALAUTHORS OF NEW BOOK ABOUT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS
CALL VERDICT THE EXCEPTION WITHIN A SYSTEM
STACKED AGAINST THE ACCUSEDTORONTO (October 10, 2008) — Today, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal handed down a not-guilty verdict in the case of Maclean’s magazine and its columnist Mark Steyn.
The case, prompted by charges of “flagrant Islamophobia” made against Steyn and Maclean’s by the Canadian Islamic Congress (CIC), focused critical attention on Canada’s controversial Human Rights Commissions. Today, the Tribunal ruled that Mark Steyn and Maclean’s did not violate the human rights of the complainants merely by reporting facts and accurately quoting sources.
The Steyn trial, along with other lesser known but equally troubling cases, are chronicled in the new book The Tyranny of Nice: How Canada crushes freedom in the name of human rights, written by Kathy Shaidle and Pete Vere (www.TyrannyOfNice.com)
Authors Kathy Shaidle and Pete Vere commented today on the verdict in the Steyn & Maclean’s case:
“Unfortunately, this decision is only a partial victory for Mark Steyn, Maclean’s magazine and every other writer and publisher in Canada.
“This Kafkaesque trial cost taxpayers dearly, while many Canadians struggle to make ends meet. More importantly, it cost Canada its international reputation as a free, just and tolerant country. While Steyn and Maclean’s won, most defendants are found guilty; the HRCs boast of a nearly 100% rate of conviction.
“We can only hope that this case and all the others chronicled in our book will help make the continued existence of Canada’s out of control, draconian Human Rights Commissions an issue in the coming federal election.
“If elected Prime Minister, what will Stephen Harper, Stephane Dion, Jack Layton or Elizabeth May do to rein in the powers of human rights commissions and protect freedom of speech and freedom of the press?”
Stay vigilant.

Lan astaslem: Arabic for “I will not submit/surrender”
Ed Driscoll has an interview with Shaidle and Vere about “The Tyranny of Nice.”
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Congratulations to Mark Steyn
- Steyn Is Vindicated! « Free Mark Steyn!
- Steynian 268 « Free Mark Steyn!
- More Steyn Trial Feedback « Free Mark Steyn!
- Mark Steyn and Maclean, acquitted « Blogging for a free world
- Mark Steyn wins against sock puppets and perversion of ‘human rights’ » Winds Of Jihad
- Timothy Birdnow » Steyn Acquitted in Canada, Such Prosecutions likely Future in an Obama U.S.
- Jules Crittenden » Islamophobia Acquittal
- Still More Post-Trial Steynianism « Free Canuckistan!
- It Almost Sounds Like Parody « Tai-Chi Policy
- Wochenend-Schaschlik « abseits vom mainstream - heplev
- Mark Steyn found innocent — Cranach: The Blog of Veith
- miamipress.net | miamipress.net
- Politics @ Up North Mommy » Quebec judge undermines parents’ rights in Canada
- Michelle Malkin » Tweet of the Day
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Can he sue the Canadian
TerroristIslamic Congress to recover his court costs? I hope so.A battle won is a battle won, and that’s always a good thing.. there’s still a war on though.
Human Rights Commissions work so well in Canada, I expect we will be seeing them in America soon.
Good for you Mark. You do a great job. Congratulations!
L
The US HRC is a little different…
The fact he was prosecuted for his thoughts sure does chill the soul.
Glad he emerged victorious. CAIR and its associates need to be continually spanked in court.
That is fantastically good news Michelle … thanks for the quick update on the outcome …
Mark never deserved the BS he has had to put up with … but if the Dems get their way we will be putting up with a lot of the same treatment here under their media gestapo …
OK, click “link” button, copy the link in, click “/link” button, and nothing. What is wrong?
http://www.hrc.org/
Is that it? Just copy the link in without using the link button? Silly…
Congratulations and best wishes, Mark!
Thank you for all you do to protect our freedoms!
even the phrase scares me.
We’re lucky to have you here, Mark.
I don’t know whether to be relieved that truth still counts or outraged that there was doubt that it would be enough.
So I’ll compromise and congratulate Mr Steyn, one of the great truth-teller of our time.
Good news, I always liked the guy or would “bloke” be more appropriate?
Congrats to Mark, well done.
When are we going to start treating our propagandists as criminals instead of our Patriots?
bravo! congrats to free speech in canada and to mark.
Happy Thanksgiving, Mark, for old time’s sake!
Fabulous news, Mark! It gives us hope for our Canadian cousins!
congrats to Mark, it was a victory for all free thinking, free speaking people of the world. 1 battle won, in the war of freedom.
Glad to see there’s still hope for Canada!
Can he go after them for “Flagrant Free Speech Ophobia?”
Ms.Shaidle and Mr. Vere are right. Canada DOES have a well deserved black eye. The new Prime Minister, whomever it is SHOULD step up and stop the Witch
Hunts. Enough PC toro poopoo. Say no to
stifling Freedom of Speech anywhere. And
shame on the HRC for being arrogant and
woozy with power.
But most of all, Congrats Mark. I loved
America Alone.
GGGGOOOO mark!!! glad my money helped.
We can only hope that this case and all the others chronicled in our book will help make the continued existence of
Canada/America’s out of control, draconianHuman Rights CommissionsACLU-owned Federal Courts an issue in the coming federal election.*sigh*
Congratulations to Mark.
However, the battle is far from over.
There is an ever-growing divide between the main urban centers and the rest of the country.
Jack Layton is a scary man. I worked with him on a number of issues in Toronto. At first, he presents himself as a left-leaning moderate, but in truth he is a hard-core communist. He reminds me alot of Obama.
Before breaking into euphoria, while Mike Steyn has tobe commended for his integrity and courage, remember that Islam drives strength and comfort from powerful institutions like White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/09/20010917-11.html
and that this Islamic hostility on Dar Al-Harb is gone un-punished, only to raise it’s ugly head in a matter of time.
Real victory lies in crushing Islamic hostility on occassions like this. However, Mike Steyn stands tall as a man of integrity, whihe Bush and Condi are timid and corrupt Dhimmis.
OT except both have National Review connections
Christopher Buckley decides a Marxist as President is a-ok with him, because McCain isn’t hip, and didn’t go to Harvard, and Obama did.
Islamophobia implies fear of Islam.
The emotion many feel in regard to Islam is perhaps not fear but loathing.
This is great news, but it renders the fact of the trial no less troubling.
Congrats to Mark. He is one of the good one’s.
Everyday my disgust with the religion of pieces grows. islam is nothing but a cult of death.
A hearty congratulations to Mark Steyn. Keep up the good fight sir.
What a tough decision that must have been!
But, then, using a candidate’s given middle name is clearly racist!
It won’t be if Obama wins.
Glad to hear. Don’t like what he has to say, but I’m glad he can say it.
No it’s not. The US HRC holds enormous power and works on behalf of a small segment of the population, using the American taxpayer’s money to prosecute perceived slights against LGBT community members.
I have worked with lawyers to defend spurious actions by the San Francisco arm of the HRC and they are militant and hideous. They threaten to withhold funding to important nonprofit groups if they don’t buckle to pressure and pay money to *settle* spurious claims. It’s a shakedown, plain and simple.
I’m with the others who comment that a victory is important, but the mere process of going through a trial is bad. What would have happened to Mark if he’d been found “guilty”??
Victory in Canada! Now how about in America – NObama, not now, not ever, no how!
So the truth bothers you?
Just wait until we start charging people with Hate Crimes for speaking out against immorality in this country… oh… that’s already happening. (Granted, the charges in this case were dropped; however, give the liberals more time to shift the cultural hegemony in this country further away from Christianity and we’ll see much more of this.)
Yay! Canada has free speech!
Here, Bible quotes are ‘hate speech’ and can get you jail time.
President Obama *spit* will institute these inquisitions through his Department of Peace, Tolerance and Fairness.
This is why we need McCain to win and put VP Palin in charge of finding qualified strict constructionists to appoint to the Federal Courts and SCOTUS, and to continue through the 2 terms of Palin/Jindal.
Fixed it for ya.
A small bit of sanity in a world gone insane.
I dumped up an audio lecture by Mark on America Alone here to celebrate!!
Epic Win Mark!!
Bravo Zulu!!
That what happens when politically correct social rules become the law. Canada. Your screwed. I think we may have a little of those laws here. They’re call “hate crimes” How the heck are you supposed to read a persons mind for an opinion or an intent. The actions of a crime are enough to prosecute.
CHEEESSSS!!!!!!!!!
LOL Mrs. Malkin, I was watching Fox News last night and all I could think of is that since you and O’Reilly are on the same dirty dozen list, will you go back on his show now? (understood that Jerry Rivers would first have to apologize for real)
You beat me to the post on that issue. Why do we have hate crimes added onto already existing crimes? How do you read a persons mind in a court of law? What is the proof of hate and all it’s variations?
Excellent news, but sad that it even went as far as it did. Geez.
I’m happy for Mark, however it would have been much better if this case had gone all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court. The laws that empower these courts remain in affect. All that these clown courts have learned is to make sure they go after people who do not have the resources to fight them, and there are plenty of those. The process remains the punishment. The struggle goes on.
Are you listening, any author of McCain-Feingold?
The term “Islamaphobia” is itself a lie. It implies that people have a negative opinion of Islam not because of the Sep 11 attacks, the Tube attacks, the Madrid attacks, the Mumbai attacks, and the ten thousand Muslim terror attacks that followed, but rather that people have a negative opinion of Islam for no good reason at all.
The term “Islamaphobia” is cunning rhetoric to shift the cause for Islam’s bad reputation away from its own evil acts to non-Muslims purported prejudice. While Islam remains one of the most bigoted religions on Earth, the purveyors of “Islamaphobia” seek to exploit the Western distaste for religious bigotry, a value they disdain.
In addition to being a bogus accusation, “Islamaphobia” is an attempt to hold non-Muslims to a higher standard than Muslims, who revel in hatred toward Jews and Christians, whom they freely call pigs and apes in their mosques.
Furthermore, this dishonesty, this deceit, this dissembling is an official doctrine of Islam, taqiyya, which approves of lying to non-Muslims to further the faith.
That HRCs exist shows Canada has already lost to radical Islam and tyranny. Ah, but wait America until next year for the Fairness Doctrine and our day is coming.
I agree with beenthere. It would have been much better if Mark had been ‘convicted’ by this bunch of clowns. MacLeans had the finances and will to take it to the Supreme Court of Canada, if necessary, and that would have likely gone a long way to seeing a reduction in the scope and power of the “Marsupia Majesties” on the BCHRC. A chance missed. And I would bet money that a lot of the MSM will acknowledge the acquittal on page 37, praise the ‘fairness’ of the tribunal while marginalizing the HRC critics as being unreasonably worried in the first place and trumpeting the ‘findings’ that there were “inaccuracies” and “glib opinions”.
Funny how you never hear about Buddhaphobia or Hinduphobia. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Buddhists and Hindus don’t have the nasty habit of killing people who don’t buy into their beliefs.
Muslims always condemn other religions and display their phobias and hatreds. The so called moderate Muslims never condemn the muslim terrorists and yet you hear how they want to destroy the west everyday. So is it a sin to be weary of these folks! As soon as they become a majority they want Sharia law and thats the truth.
Oh, thank GOD, er Allah!,
I was really worried we had a hater on our hands. Even then, I still have latent doubts about that guy Steyn. He comes across as such a mean bully otherwise.
I had a feeling he would. The human rights tribunals are not conducted with legal personnel overseeing them, nor are they public. Ezra Levant had to film his own “trial”. The fact that these paper-pushers couldn’t do the will of fanatics shows they cannot quash free expression. What they can do is exhaust someone financially. If any of the candidates currently running for election want to score points, they would make it so that anyone who brings such a frivolous claim have to pay the costs.
I guess many of us are guilty of Flatulent Islamophobia as described by the weak knee wackos of the world.
This was a hard case for Mark Steyn–he wanted to lose. He wanted to lose so he could challenge the Commission and the law in court. But then to have an appeal he had to have put on a vigorous defense. Other words the whole damn thing was stacked against him.
So we with Flatulent Islamophobia wish the man well. If you have not read his book America Alone you might try it.
That was Flagrant-? Fragrant? Islamophobia?
—
America First
America Alone
America Come Home
If I am gonna have to wear a burqua …I’m having some more ice cream!
I am no longer a fan of Mr. (Himself) O’Reilly’s Variety Show. Personally I doubt Ms. Malkin will go back on the program after the way she was treated by both Whorealdo and Mr. Bill. The apology was no only less than 1/2 hearted Mr. Bill was not sincere in acquiring one, looked to me like he went thru the motions to appear so, but in the end that was as 1/2 hearted as the apology from the spitter.
Congratulations, Mr. Steyn!
Yay!
I don’t fear Islamists. They seem to be the most insecure men on Earth. They are repressives who are intimidated by their women’s sexuality.
How else do you explain their irrational need to cover the women up in tents. I read that one clown somewhere is now suggesting that women cover one eye, as well. This to prevent the women from “seducing men with their eyes.”
Nope. No fear. Just deep, deep disdain.
Looking at the socialist countries, like Britain and Canada, one wonders if that is the future of the U.S.. One thing, among others, that the politicians love to do, is regulate the Press and free speech. I know free speech is long gone in England. One, there, has to be careful about voicing opinions.
Now if only he could demand treble damages and all legal costs as he could down here in Texas.
Good to hear! Long live freedom of speech.
An accurate and a critically important observation, Tantor!
Congrats, Mark. They could not win in a “legal” matchup so…
watch your six.
Curious as to why. The man, if you’re giving him credit, isn’t being dishonest, so….whats the problem?
Good for you maisy (#56), have a double scoop.
Well, I have a negative opinion of Islam for one primary reason: it’s wrong, historically and philosophically, but hey, who really cares about truth anymore? All of the things you listed are the consequences of said wrong idea.
Islamophobia is no different than homophobia, or any other “phobia”. Just a way to bowbeat people into being silent when the see something they disagree with.
In the case of “homophobia”, giving in and allowing yourself to be silenced leads to color coordinated living rooms and simply fabulous outfits.
Allowing yourself to be silenced because of being labled as “Islamophobic” leads to an eventual nasty case of ‘headchoppedoffitis’.
Get a clue folks! Do you think a form of this radicalism doesn’t already exist in the US, and will doubtless get worse under Obama?
Have you tried to exercise your right to free speech lately? Just yesterday a Sheriff who gared to refer to Obama as HUSSEIN Obama has been pilloried for it. Talk about a black person with disdain and you are a RACIST and should lose your job (hello, Imus?). Wear a shirt with a gun or critical of Obama on it and your kid is suspended from school by a leftist so-called “educator.” Call attention to a bunch of ragheads causing a commotion before boarding an airplane and you get sued. And on and on and on.
Anyone see any difference at all between Canada and the US in this regard? I don’t.
Well at least it is Happy Charles the Hammer saves the West from Islam at Tours Day to all. Yes dear friends Charles Martel and friends killed mohammedans from morning to night on October 11th, 732 and the whiners are still mad about it. They consider it the first Crusade, damn trinitarians hitting back and all. So I repeat: Happy Charles the Hammer saves the West from Islam at Tours Day.
But there is no truth to the rumor I am starting that one of the mohammedan generals was named Barack Hussein Obama, none at all.
—
ALCOHOL, TOBACCO AND FIREARMS
Should be a convenience store
NOT a Government Agency
What happened to the free speech movement by the left in 1964? Your only free if it’s their speech.
While our country maynot have HRC, we have something very simuliar on college campuses and they are called “Speech Codes”.
Anything that does not follow the lefts mantra of political correctness, is immediately shouted down and offending person either shunned or worse yet expelled.
MM has written extensively about them over the years.
GSP
Good one maisy.
can you imagine the great tasting food you’ll be able to enjoy and not worry about how you’ll look.
Mark is hoping the Canadian Islamic Congress appeals. In fact he’s offering $1000 toward their cause!
After January, expect “free speech” to be like guns…highly regulated.
http://townhall.com/columnists/MarkHillman/2008/10/12/intimidation_by_obamanation