Hanifa Deen in conversation with Barney Zwartz

Hanifa Deen author of Caravanserai will launch her latest release, The Jihad Seminar with Barney Zwartz, Religion Editor for The Age at Melbourne University this Wednesday 6 August.

Deen, a Melbourne-based author and social commentator, will discuss her close encounter with Victoria’s religious hate speech law which began in 2002 when the Islamic Council of Victoria lodged a complaint of religious vilification against the Pentecostal para church organisation called Catch the Fire Inc.

‘From the outset, freedom of speech versus freedom from vilification came under the spotlight. Deen discovered a wider meaning to this conflict as people–on both sides of the courtroom–expressed their pain and their innocence at a tribunal hearing that dragged on for more than five years and turned into a legal nightmare. Over time the author came to understand that religious vilification was only one strand of a more complex story,’ Readings.

This free event is organised by Readings in Melbourne and will include a book launch and author signings. Bookings can be made on 9347 6633.