I thought we all had the right to Freedom of Expression, it seems this man doesn't. The Australian on the 2nd of April in an article labelled him a 'prolific correspondent', then the very next day he's got the police at his door warning him with seven years jail if he continues writing letters to Private Luke Worsley's family. I am not supporting him or his views but I do believe I should support Freedom of Expression even if I don't agree with him. What do you all think?
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23469071-25090,00.html
http://www.sheikhharon.com/announcements.html

There have been a few threads about 'Sheikh Haron', they all pretty much end up with the same possibilities over his identity:

1) the guy doesn't exist in reality, he's just a troll looking for people to get all offended over what he says.

2) Even if he is real, when does 'freedom of expression' become harassment? I would suggest that even if he is telling the truth, he should be charged with harassment.

Personally, I wouldn't believe anything about 'Sheikh Haron', whoever that idiot turns out to be.

Yeah, whoever this "Sheikh Haron" is, he's obviously able to maintain his silly website where he can publish all the tripe he likes. The letters to the dead soldier's parents cross the line between freedom of expression and harassment, if indeed they were real. It all seems a bit too close to April Fools Day to me...

Mind you, we only have the word of the rather coy and certainly loopy "Sheikh" that the incident with the police actually occurred. And if it did, who really cares?

"The letters to the dead soldier's parents cross the line between freedom of expression and harassment, if indeed they were real."

That all depends on the frequency of the letters. No one is forcing them to read this correspondence. Just because you may find something offensive doesn't mean you can go off and cry to the police. Most people suck it up and/or ignore it. Celebrities would probably laugh at these complaints. I smell politically-driven policing and those threats can't be true...that would truly be disturbing.

CJM got it right but if the idiot exists even as a joke he/she is indeed an idiot.

Freedom of expression (or speech) should never be used as support to this kind of vile harrassment. It devalues the spirit and intent of "freedom of speech" and minimises the horror and grief caused by this this type of harrassment.

yes but we don't know the frequency of these letters ...it could have been only a couple. and if that is the case no one is forcing them to read the letters. think about it. they could simply throw them away and ignore them...note that i'm not condoning the letters, but the threat of imprisonment and police over what could only be a couple of easily ignored is a bit much

Hi Steel,as you say. When John Worsley received the envelope he could've simply binned it, thats what I've been doing for the past few years. I am sick and tired of the junk mail that I receive everyday,this has been disturbing and harassing me for a very long time. When I read the Sheikh's story "7 years for sending mail", I was wandering if I could ask the police to charge those businesses for harassment too? Because as Bugsy says, " there's a fine line between freedom of expression and harassment". The 7 years charge is not about the 3 letters that have already been sent to John Worsley. It says on the website the warning of the police is about any future letters to John Worsley. It means Sheikh Haron has not been charged for any letter that has already been sent. But he will be charged if he sends one more letter. By sending the fourth letter he will be charged no matter what the frequency of the letter will be. So its got nothing to do with frequency. Below are the links of the past three letters.
1. http://www.sheikhharon.com/letter-of-sheikh-haron-to-Mr.%20John%20Worsley%2025%20November%202007.htm
2. http://www.sheikhharon.com/second-letter-of-sheikh-haron-to-mr-john-worsley-father-of-australian-soldier-12-december-2007.pdf
3. http://www.sheikhharon.com/media-releases-folder/third-letter-of-sheikh-haron-to-john-worsley-19-march-2008.htm

That is as it should be then Bright1.

If you stuck a sign on your letterbox warning junk mailers not to place junkmail in your letterbox, then you have every right to take them to court if they continue. It has been done before.

If you request to be taken off a particular mailing list because you feel harassed, the you have every right to take a business or organisation to court if they fail or refuse to comply. Just because you have not done so does not not mean you cannot do so.

This is an extension of those principles. This situation has nothing to do with "freedom of speech", and harassers right to it.

Freedom of expression surely involves responsibilities as well as rights