In what some hope is a sign that the days of arresting Christian street preachers for offending homosexuals may be coming to an end, a UK court has awarded a preacher 13,000 pounds ($21,000+US) for wrongful arrest and imprisonment.
The Daily Mail is reporting on the case of John Craven, 57, a street preacher who was arrested in 2011 while reading Scripture in a city square in Manchester. While doing so, two young men began to kiss and fondle one another in front of him, deliberately provoking him. They then asked him what God thinks of homosexuals.
“I told them whilst God hates sin, he loves the sinner and that according to the word of God homosexuality is an abomination,” Craven told the Mail. “That is not my opinion, it is the word of God.”
He then proceeded to quote Revelation, Chapter 21, verse eight which condemns the sexually immoral.
“This made them upset and they started to do obscene gestures to me. They were trying to provoke me,” Craven said.
The boys then ran up to a constable to tell him that Craven’s comments had offended them. Craven was grabbed roughly by the policeman who arrested him.
He was then held in a police cell for almost 19 hours, 15 of which were spent without food or water. He was fingerprinted, made to give a DNA sample and told he was being investigated for allegedly using insulting words with the intention of causing harassment, alarm or distress – which could have led to a six-month jail sentence.
However, two days later, all charges were dropped.
Craven sued and, after a three-year legal battle, won 13,000 pounds in a case that cost the public more than 50,000 pounds. He was awarded damages under the Human Rights Act which ensures his right to freely manifest his religion and freedom of expression, including the freedom to impart ideas without interference by a public authority.
Colin Hart, the head of the Christian Institute which funded Craven’s case, said, “Nobody should face 19 hours in custody for simply answering a question about their beliefs.”
He added: “In terms of the infringement of religious liberty, it was one of the worst cases we have ever dealt with . . . . Freedom of expression is a very basic human right. The very foundations of our liberty depend upon it. I hope that Greater Manchester Police learn lessons for the future from this case and make every effort to ensure that it never happens again.”
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