(AP) Greek officials Tuesday scrapped plans to criminalize blasphemy as a law-and-order debate intensified between the country’s new conservative government and the left-wing opposition.
Justice Minister Costas Tsiaras said the proposal has been removed from draft legislation that’s being debated in Parliament. It would have made blasphemy punishable by up to two years in prison.
The proposal had been widely criticized.
“Only fundamentalist countries in Asia and the Middle East have laws like that,” said Spyros Lappas, a left-wing lawmaker who is the lead representative of his party in the parliamentary debate. “God does not need protection from a public prosecutor.”
