On behalf of the Islamic community in Croatia, Mufti Aziz Hasanovic on Friday condemned recent attacks in France, which he said "cannot be justified," as well as "insults which are being dishonestly classified as freedoms."

“The Quran principle saying that whoever kills an innocent life it is as if he has killed all of humanity, clearly and unchangeably points to the gravity of the crime in believers’ eyes. We received with such sorrow, frustration and disbelief the news about a terrorist act which cannot be justified by faith,” he said in a press release.

In a Nice church on Thursday, a person beheaded a woman and killed two more people, shouting “Allahu Akbar”.

“God’s houses must be safe places and respected by all, whether someone considers them theirs or not,” said the mufti.

Insults promoted as a value

At the same time, he warned that “we cannot remain blind and mute to the fact that insults are being persistently promoted as a value.”

Besides condemning terrorism and the recent terror attacks in France, the Islamic community in Croatia condemned caricatures of the prophet Muhammad.

“The caricatures haven’t hurt only Muslims. Others’ values are often their target too, which is additional reason for us all to ask ourselves whether we are talking about freedom or about a licence to insult,” Mufti Hasanovic said, reiterating that nothing could justify murder and terrorism.

He called for a dialogue on that problem and concluded with the saying ‘You can do anything you like with bayonets, except sit on them.’