Czech prosecutor finds no evidence that radical Islamic book disseminates racism

Czech Television reports that prosecutors have returned the case of an allegedly radical Islamic book said to have been disseminating racism back to police for further investigation. Jan Lelek, head of the Prague 1 District State Prosecutor, confirmed the information to the Czech News Agency.

The case was the outcome of last year’s raid on Muslim centers in Prague, after which the former president of Prague’s Muslim Community, Vladimír Sáňka, was charged with publishing a book disseminating racism. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.  

The scandal concerns the publishing of a book by Bilal Philips, entitled Bases of the Tauhid – The Islamic Conception of God (in Czech, Základy tauhídu-Islámský koncept Boha). Philips was banned from entering Australia in 2007, from entering Great Briatin in 2010, and from entering Germany in 2011.  

In 2014, Philips was extradited from Bangladesh and then deported from the Philippines. He is considered a person of extremist opinions and is suspected of having ties to terrorist groups.

Philips claims, for example, that rape in marriage does not exist and that the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for "homosexuals". According to the Czech Republic’s current annual report on extremism, the book promotes the Salafi tendency of Islam, which espouses hatred and intolerance for other religions.  

The English version of the book can of course be bought without any problem from large online booksellers. The Czech translation of the book continues to be listed in the catalogue of the National Library in Prague.

After last year’s controversial raid on Prague’s Muslim centres, Sáňka was charged with establishing, promoting and supporting a movement aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms. Police say he committed that crime by arranging for the book’s translation, publication and distribution.  

On 25 April 2014, police raided buildings near Wenceslas Square and in the Černý Most quarter housing the Center of Muslim Communities in the Czech Republic, the Prague Muslim Community and the Islamic Foundation. The raid took place during Friday prayers, which are of special significance to Muslims.

Many attending prayers, including foreign diplomats, complained about the raid. Those present criticized the allegedly too-forceful actions of the police officers involved.

Witnesses objected to the fact that they had been forced to lie face down on the ground and testified that officers aimed weapons at them. The Czech Interior Ministry investigated the case and found the raid to have been in order.