A Christian pastor in England, named Michael Overd, was arrested for quoting a passage from the Bible, Leviticus 20:13, in which is referenced homosexuality.
He was then arrested for recitingĀ what has been deemed as āthreateningā or āabusiveā words against homosexuals. He was then forced to be tried by Shamim Qureshi, a Muslim who is also a judge for a Sharia Islamic court in the UK. The Muslim judge finedĀ him $300 and demanded that he pay compensation and costs to an unidentified person who claimed that he was emotionally damaged by the pastorās words, totaling $1,800.
When the pastor refused to pay the $300 fine, Shamim Qureshi threatenedĀ the preacher with a prison sentence of 45 days.
The pastor admitted to referencing Leviticus 20, but said that he never mentioned the death penalty. āI am being punished for words that never passed my lipsā, he said. The pastor continued on to say:
I am amazed that the judge sees it as his role to dictate which parts of the Bible can and canāt be preachedā¦ I did not quote the full text of Leviticus 20 or make reference to the death penalty, but the judge is telling me that I should use other parts of the Bible. This is not free speech but censorship. The judge is redacting the Bible
According to one report:
Overd was ordered to pay Ā£250 to a passer-by who had been offended by the preacherās comments, and he initially refused, at which point judge Shamim Qureshi threatened the preacher with a prison sentence. He has been ordered to pay total costs of Ā£1200.
Overd intends to appeal his conviction and said āI follow my Lord and leader, so I wonāt tone down.ā
The street preacher was charged with a public order offence, after complaints were made by members of the public that he had made homophobic and āIslamophobicā remarks.
