Icelandic minister condemns Pakistani cleric’s views

Iceland’s justice minister says Pakistani religious leader Muhammad Taqi Usmani’s message conflicts with the country’s fundamental values, mbl.is reports.

Usmani has defended the death penalty for apostasy, as well as amputation and stoning as punishments under Islamic law. He has also criticised the decriminalisation of same-sex sexual relations.

Usmani delivered a religious lecture at a gathering at the Grand Mosque, a mosque on Bústaðavegur in Reykjavík, last Wednesday. Justice Minister Þorbjörg Sigríður Gunnlaugsdóttir commented after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, saying the views had no place in Iceland, whether considered in terms of human rights or other individual rights.