On Oct. 11, however, the ECHR determined that Bouton’s actions are justified as part of her “freedom of expression” and agreed that they were part of “a political or public debate.” Said the judges, “In the present case, the sole purpose of the applicant’s action, for which no insulting or hateful conduct was alleged, was to contribute to the public debate on women’s rights.”
Dr. Grégor Puppinck, Director of the European Centre for Law and Justice, condemned the decision, saying, “It is becoming a habit at the ECHR to defend these attacks in churches and against the Church…The Court would never have supported such a macabre display if it had taken place in a mosque or in the precincts of a courthouse. Do the judges in Strasbourg not see that every day in Europe churches are desecrated, burned, statues broken and crosses knocked down? Do they not see the misunderstanding and hatred towards Christ and Christians spreading in society?”
