Results matching “on the mohammed carto”

Following the International Press Institute (IPI) world congress in Belgrade, where a session focused on the limits of tolerance and the issue of publishing blasphemous content, such as the Mohammed cartoons in Denmark, IPI will make a programme-length video about the issue of blasphemy.

This is a good initiative in the wake of the publication of satirical cartoons of Mohammed by 17 Danish newspapers, three years after the initial row.

"Deciding where to draw the line, or whether there should be a line, would be a major step forward, if it's done in a sensitive and sensible way," wrote the Guardian's Roy Greenslade.

The debate between proponents of unrestricted press freedom and those who advise cautious self-censorship will undoubtedly drag on, but IPI's initiative may help to throw light on these issues.

UPDATE: A Danish appeals court rejected today a suit filed by seven Muslim organizations against the editors of the Jyllands-Posten, which first published the Mohammed cartoons in 2005. The court found that the most controversial of the cartoons, depicting the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, was "of a satirical nature" and "does not refer to Muslims in general or to the (plaintiff) organisations or their members," reported the AFP. The court also stated "that terrorist acts have been committed in the name of Islam, and it is not illegal for these acts to be made the object of satirical representation."

Source: Roy Greenslade

A day after police thwarted a murder plot against, Kurt Westergaard, the Danish cartoonist responsible for a controversial cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban, 17 Danish newspapers printed the aforementioned drawing.

Three of the country’s largest newspapers were among those to reprint the cartoon today.  Editors staunchly defended their freedom of expression and refused to censor the content—noting that they would not be intimidated by fanatics, reports editorandpublisher.com.

The cartoon, considered offensive by numerous Muslims, was one of a series of 12 caricatures published in Sept. 2005 by daily Jyllands-Posten. Violent protests ensued in several Muslim countries in Jan. and Feb. 2006.

Danish police claimed to have arrested three people yesterday—a Dane of Moroccan origin and two Tunisian nationals in relation to the murder plot.

When asked why they chose to reprint the cartoon, the newspapers explained that they were demonstrating their right to publish uncensored material.

"Freedom of expression gives you the right to think, to speak and to draw what you like ... no matter how many terrorist plots there are," conservative broadsheet Berlingske Tidende wrote in an editorial.

Westergaard has lived in hiding for the past three months while the Danish press has maintained that it has “unanimously condemned the alleged murder plot against the cartoonist.”

The Danish Muslim community has attempted to dissociate themselves from the murder plot but have expressed disapproval of the cartoon’s publication today.

Imam Walid Abdoul Pedersen, a Protestant who converted to Islam, said: "It's not a good idea to reproduce it and the newspapers could have defended the cartoonist differently, without resorting to provocation."

Pedersen explained that while a dialogue on freedom of expression would be beneficial, perhaps the newspapers’ confrontational manner of provoking discussion, in printing the cartoon, was not the most productive.
 
The Danish foreign ministry has been forced to remain sensitive to the issue since the 2006 controversy sparked Danish flag burnings and international protests.

Source: AFP Mail – Editor & Publisher
 

Last Friday, the Malaysian government suspended the Makkal Ossai for a month, after it published an image representing Jesus holding a cigarette and a can of beer.

On April 11, a panel of famed international press cartoonists gathered at the French Ministry of Culture, to inaugurate the ‘Cartooning for Peace’ exhibit and debate the potential dangers of political press cartoons. Cartoons have a universal reach and pacifying effects, but they may also lead to just the opposite – violence and bloodshed. How then can press cartoons evolve to pursue their peace-making goals, especially in light of new subversive forms of censorship emerging in the West, and should freedom of expression be absolute?

Editor of weekly newspaper Al-Rai Al-Aam Kamal Al-Olufi will spend one year in jail for having printed an image of the website of Danish Jylland Posten, where some of the famous Mohammed cartoons were visible. The paper has been ordered to stop publication for six months.

On October 26 Danish Jyllands-Posten ‘s editor in chief Carsten Juste and culture editor Flemming Rose were acquitted of the accusation of racism for allowing the publication of the Mohammed cartoons in September 2005. The lawsuit was filed by seven Muslim organizations based in Denmark, after the country’s attorney general decided not to press criminal charges against the daily under racism and blasphemy laws. 

A day after a court delivered two Jordanian editors two-month jail sentences for printing the infamous Mohammed cartoons in their newspapers, the Jordanian government said Wednesday it plans to reintroduce a bill to end prison sentences for journalism-related crimes, AFP reported.

Lessons from the Mohammed cartoon clash will be the focus of the fifth session of the 13th World Editors Forum, which begins June 4 in Moscow. On 30 September 2005, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published twelve cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed. Sixteen years after the fatwa against Salman Rushdie and his "Satanic Verses," the clash between freedom of expression and religious values exploded once more. Panelists will discuss if there are limits for press freedom and how media responsibility can work in a globalized world. Don’t miss this special panel focused on 2006’s most fascinating editorial debate.

A Jordanian court has jailed two newspaper editors for printing the Mohammed cartoons, which incited worldwide uproar after they were first run by Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten last fall.

The Mohammed cartoons are still sparking controversy, as Canada’s largest book retailer pulled all copies of a magazine containing the drawings from its shelves.

The Iranian government shut down one of Iran’s top three newspapers after it ran a cartoon Friday that angered the country’s Azeri minority, the Guardian reported Tuesday, an incident that recalls the still-lingering controversy surrounding the inflammatory Mohammed cartoons.

The Editors Weblog and Visual Editors are joining forces to bring a new feature to the world's gathering for newspaper editors. Robb Montgomery, CEO of VizEds, and I will be getting crazy with citizen journalism tools to show editors how they can integrate them into the newsroom in order to enrich their reporting.  

French daily Le Monde reports in today’s edition that European anti-terrorism services have recently reinforced their measures against attacks. For months now, Al-Quaida has been allegedly organizing a “mission” aimed to punish the designers of the Mohammed cartoons published by Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten. According to Hamir Mir, chief editor of Pakistani daily Ausaf, a group of twelve terrorists (nine Afghans and three Pakistanis) is already heading for Denmark.

The Yemen Observer, a newspaper whose printing license was revoked for reprinting the infamous Mohammed cartoons, has been told it may begin printing again. At the time of the Mohammed cartoon debacle the editor-in-chief of the Yemen Observer, Mohammad al-Asaadi, and two journalists from al-Hurriya (the Managing Editor, Abd al-Karim Sabra and a reporter, Yehiya al-Abed) were jailed. In addition to The Yemen Observer, the printing licenses of weeklies Al-Hurriya and al-Rai al-Aam were suspended. These two papers have reportedly been told they can also begin printing again. However, Mohammed al-Asaadi is on trial for defaming Islam and has still not been cleared of this charge, which he denies.

Source: BBC News, The Editors Weblog and here 

Anna Smirnova, the editor of Russian weekly Nash Region, has been found guilty of "deliberately stirring up religious hatred and intolerance" and of "abusing her position", she has also been fined approximately 3,000 euros, all of this for publishing the infamous Mohammed cartoons 2 months ago. Smirnova's husband, and owner of the now defunct weekly, explained that contrary to the court ruling the publication of the cartoons was "aimed against stirring up religious hatred" he also asserted that his wife would be appealing the court decision.

The Russian paper Gorodskiye Vesti was closed down by Volgograd's mayor after it published an original cartoon commenting on the Mohammed cartoons row, which included an image of Mohammed (see previous posting).

Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned publication of the cartoons in line with his concern that such acts may 'destabilise' Russia, since it has 20 million Muslim inhabitants. 

Source: Irish Examiner, For full coverage of the Mohammed cartoons row, see Editors Weblog previous postings and here and here and here 

An Italian Catholic magazine called Studi Cattolici has published a cartoon, inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy, which depicts the Prophet Mohammed in hell cut in two as punishment for spreading division. The cartoon's caption also uses a play on words to suggest Italy's attitude towards Muslims is too soft. The cartoon has been criticised by the Vatican, whose expert on Islam, Father Justo Lacunza Balda, made the following statement: "This really doesn't seem to me like the way towards dialogue and mutual understanding.", and by the Italian section of the World Muslim League, which denounced the cartoon as "in extremely bad taste."

Source: Media Guardian (registration required) For full coverage of the Mohammed Cartoons Row see The Editors Weblog previous postings and here and here and here

The Estonian newspaper KesKus has reprinted the infamous Mohammed cartoons, originally published in September 2005 by Danish paper Jyllands Posten, that sparked outrage amongst Muslims worldwide. Editor in chief Juku-Kalle Raid explained the decision to print the cartoons as follows: "We published the cartoons so that people can see what they are criticising. My decision was immediate but we took our time because we did not want to add to the already high tensions."

The Estonian Prime Minister has stated that any adverse reaction to the publication of the cartoons will be the responsibility of the newspaper, he additionally warned that freedom of expression must be exercised with caution: "Freedom of the press must be accompanied with responsibility ... All of us have seen the reaction to these cartoons. If anything happens, KesKus executives will be responsible."

It remains to be seen what kind of reaction will result from the re-printing of the cartoons. However, one has to wonder whether KesKus has waited to long to re-print and therefore risks re-igniting the cartoons row, which of late had seemed to have somewhat subsided, and thus directly contravening the objective behind the decision to re-print.

Source: Interfax For full coverage of the cartoon controversy see Editors Weblog previous postings and here and here