Second Muslim Charged in Sharia Attack on Convert to Islam

Hmmm. Australian lawmakers think they need to explain to Australian Muslims that Sharia Law is not the law of Australia. Don't these lawmakers know that Muslims have no desire to establish Sharia in non-Muslim lands, and that Muslims are quite happy to be living under Western democracies?

SYDNEY (AP) — A second Muslim man was charged Wednesday in connection with an attack on a recent convert to Islam who was allegedly whipped 40 times as a religious punishment for drinking alcohol.

Wassim Fayad, 43, was freed on bail after being charged with aggravated breaking and entering with intent to commit an indictable offense. The same charges were laid against Tolga Cifci, 20, on Tuesday. Neither man has entered a plea.

In granting bail, Magistrate Tim Kebby ordered Fayad to stay away from the alleged victim, saying the attack was "quite particular, arising from religious motivation."

The incident has created a furor in the Australian media, reflecting the friction caused by the expanding Islamic migrant community in a country whose citizens are predominantly of Christian European background.

Australia relaxed its immigration policies in 1973 when it opened its doors to nonwhites, attracting a flood of immigrants from South Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard weighed into the debate Wednesday, telling reporters there is no place for religious punishments in Australia.

"There is only one law in this country — the law of Australia. That's what binds us together and everybody has got to abide by that law," she said.

Fayad and Cifci are among four people who are accused of breaking into Christian Martinez's house on Sunday, holding him down on his bed and whipping him 40 times with an electric cord. The court was told that Martinez, a recent convert to Islam, was targeted for "religious reasons." (Read more.)

Religious reasons? Doesn't everyone know that all true Muslims believe in Western values, not Islam?