On October 25, 2018, the European Court of Human Rights ruled in E.S. v. Austria that the applicant’s criminal conviction for disparaging religious doctrines by suggesting that the Prophet Muhammad had had pedophilic tendencies did not violate Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights. As noted in the press release, the Court stated that while there must be room for critical denial of religion, the subject matter of this case was particularly sensitive and the government must be given a wide margin of appreciation “as they were in a better position to evaluate which statements were likely to disturb the religious peace in their country.” The Court also noted that the domestic courts determined the statements were capable of stirring up prejudice and had elements of incitement to religious intolerance as “they had not been made in an objective manner contributing to a debate of public interest (e.g. on child marriage), but could only be understood as having been aimed at demonstrating that Muhammad was not worthy of worship.” The Court found that the domestic courts had “carefully balanced the applicant’s right to freedom of expression with the rights of others to have their religious feelings protected, and to have religious peace preserved in Austrian society.”