CRIMINAL charges for hate crimes against Muslims in Scotland have almost doubled in the past year amid a decline in more traditional sectarian incidents.
New official figures show the number of charges where Islam was noted has risen to 134 in 2015-16 from 71 in the previous year.
Across the same period there was a drop of seven per cent in charges where Catholics were the target in the last year, while prosecutions for anti-Protestant bigotry also dipped by a per cent of the overall religiously aggravated offences.
The recording of anti-Muslim offences has routinely risen in the aftermath of international terror incidents. It has also been suggested that in the past police awareness and mobilisation following such incidents has had an impact on figures.
The data also found that Catholicism remains the faith most often noted in religiously-aggravated charges, 51 per cent in 2015-16, followed by Protestantism with 24 per cent and Islam with 23 per cent.
More than two in five of religiously aggravated offences were directed at police officers.
Meanwhile, figures relating to the Offensive Behaviour at Football and Threatening Communications Act (OBFA) show there were 287 charges reported to prosecutors, an increase of 49% on the previous year. These related to 117 fixtures across 29 stadiums, up from 54 games played at 21 stadiums the year before.
But a quarter of all charges under the Act fail to reach court.
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Michael Matheson said: “While I am concerned at an increase in the number of charges on last year, including the rise in alleged offences against Islam, it does indicate an improvement in the willingness of the public to report these crimes, and that should be welcomed.
“I want every victim of such crimes to be willing to come forward and work with the police to ensure the perpetrators can be pursued and punished appropriately.”
Mr Matheson also referred to the scenes at last month's Scottish Cup Final to support the use of the OFBA amid anticipated efforts by opposition parties to have it repealed.
He added: “An increase in the number of charges under the Offensive Behaviour Act shows that the legislation continues to be an important tool in tackling all forms of offensive behaviour, including sectarianism, and sends a clear message that such behaviour has no place in a modern, open and inclusive society. I have asked Scottish football to take further steps to address this long-standing issue and I expect to see progress on this imminently."
But leading opponents of the OBFA, Fans Against Criminalisation, said: "We look forward to hearing the Scottish Government’s comments on the effectiveness of their flag-ship, high-profile and extremely expensive 'anti-sectarian' Act which appears to be, on the most positive interpretation, resulting in 17 convictions a year compared to the thousands convicted under the existing legislation.
"We also look forward to hearing from the new Community Safety Minister, Annabelle Ewing her views on whether charges going up or down is evidence that the Act is working."
Racial incidents remain the most commonly reported hate crime with 3712 charges reported in 2015-16, a decrease on last year and the lowest number reported since 2003-04.
There were 581 charges with a religious aggravation reported to the Crown Office, a three per cent increase on 2014-15 and largely as a result of incidents involving Muslims.
Other findings include 1020 charges with an aggravation of prejudice relating to sexual orientation, up 20 per cent on the previous year, and 201 relating to disability, an increase of 14 per cent.
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