Manfred van H.

Manfred van H. a.k.a. Mahavo (born 1944; his full name has not been made public) is a German pensioner and political activist from Senden, Germany. On February 23, 2006, he was convicted in a court in Lüdinghausen of defamation of religious convictions in a manner suitable to disturb the public peace. He was sentenced to one year in prison (on probation for five years) and to 300 hours of community service.

Van H., who was employed as a sailor after dropping out of high school, later worked nearly 15 years as a construction manager in almost all Arab countries. After returning to Germany, he worked as a self-employed electrician and a cleaning firm supervisor. He also spent six years in jail, for reasons that are not in the public record.

Shortly after the July 2005 London bombings, Van H. had manufactured toilet paper on whose sheets he had stamped the text "Koran, der Heilige Qur'än" ("Qur'an, the holy Qur'an"); the Qur'an being the holy book of Islam. These sheets he sent to mosques, TV stations and print media, offering them for sale and announcing that all proceedings would go toward a "memorial for all victims of Islamic terror". He also described the Qur'an as a "terrorist's cookbook". On the Internet, he wrote that he did this to find out "who is on whose side" in today's Germany.

As intended, this provoked considerable outrage in Islamic circles, including an official note to German authorities from the government of Iran. Criminal prosecution ensued, and the trial in February 2006 gained international media attention in the context of the then-ongoing Muhammad cartoons controversy.

The verdict of one year in prison (suspended on probation for five years) and 300 hours of community service was not appealed by van H. In the opinion of German jurists, he would have gotten away with a fine had it not been for his previous convictions. Van H., who has received numerous death threats by Islamic extremists, has remained in hiding and under police protection before and after his trial.

The blasphemy clause
Manfred van H. was convicted under the controversial §166 of the German Penal Code, the so-called Gotteslästerungsklausel (blasphemy clause), which reads:


 * § 166 Beschimpfung von Bekenntnissen, Religionsgesellschaften und Weltanschauungsvereinigungen
 * (1) Wer öffentlich oder durch Verbreiten von Schriften (§ 11 Abs. 3) den Inhalt des religiösen oder weltanschaulichen Bekenntnisses anderer in einer Weise beschimpft, die geeignet ist, den öffentlichen Frieden zu stören, wird mit Freiheitsstrafe bis zu drei Jahren oder mit Geldstrafe bestraft.
 * (2) Ebenso wird bestraft, wer öffentlich oder durch Verbreiten von Schriften (§ 11 Abs. 3) eine im Inland bestehende Kirche oder andere Religionsgesellschaft oder Weltanschauungsvereinigung, ihre Einrichtungen oder Gebräuche in einer Weise beschimpft, die geeignet ist, den öffentlichen Frieden zu stören.

This roughly translates to:


 * § 166 Defamation of religious denominations, religious societies and World view associations
 * (1) Whoever publicly or by dissemination of writings (§ 11 par. 3) defames, in a manner suitable to disturb the public peace, the substance of the religious or world view conviction of others, shall be fined or imprisoned for up to three years.
 * (2) Whoever publicly or by dissemination of writings (§ 11 par. 3) defames, in a manner suitable to disturb the public peace, a church established in Germany or other religious society or world view association, or their institutions or customs, shall be punished likewise.