A LOCAL woman is attracting national attention for her alleged derogatory comments towards Muslims on Facebook.
The post called for “all mosques to be burnt down with the doors locked at prayer time” and has since gone viral.
The 38-year-old Swan Hill woman who could not be named was charged by Swan Hill police with religious vilification on December 15 and is set to appear in Swan Hill Magistrate’s Court on February 16.
The woman further claims that she cannot be charged with religious vilification because she does not acknowledge Islam as a religion, instead she believes it to be an “evil, hateful ideology”.
The post has been subject to massive scrutiny both in the metro media and online.
Facebook and Reddit users speculate her right to freedom of speech, however according to one user “must also be held accountable for it”.
Mayor Les McPhee believes this to be one of the first incidents of such religious hate.
“This is the first time we’re aware of this occurring — we have a lot of different nationalities within our municipality,” he said.
“Within Swan Hill Rural City Council we have a diversity policy in place that acknowledges the social and economic development which that brings.”
For more on this story, grab a copy of Thursday’s Guardian (December 24).
