TIMES ONLINE: Three leading Swedish newspapers and the national broadcaster today carried a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a dog's body after an alleged plot to murder the artist was unveiled in Ireland.
The threat to Lars Vilks was a threat against all Swedes, the country's biggest daily, Dagens Nyheter, proclaimed, adding that the New Year axe attack on a Danish cartoonist for drawing the Prophet meant that Scandanavian values of openness were being assaulted.
The drawing by Mr Vilks was published in the Stockholm-based Dagens Nyheter and Expressen newspapers and the Malmo daily Sydsvenska Dagbladet in defence of one of the cornerstones of Sweden's constitution. This states that Swedes have the right to freedom of speech and cannot be restrained from the lawful expression of their views.
But the newspapers stopped short of running the controversial cartoon on their websites because of their wider accessibility around the world. Islam forbids representations being made of the Prophet.
"In September 2007, al Qaida leaders set a price on Swedish artist Lars Vilks’ head," said Dagens Nyheter in an editorial comment. His "alleged crime" was to draw a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad as a "roundabout dog", a type of street installation popular in Sweden where sculptures are often placed in the middle of roundabaouts.
It added: "The latest development including the arrests in Ireland stresses the serious situation and the failed axe attack on Danish Mohammad cartoonist Kurt Westergaard further emphasises the weight of the threat.
"If anyone views the attacks on Westergaard and Vilks as individual criminal cases it is time for them to think again. The threats are attacks on one of the most fundamental rights – the freedom of speech – and should be viewed as a wider treat against an open and free society.
"The al-Qaeda individuals who would like to silence the Scandinavian artists are denying the most basic values which upholds a democracy. A threat against Lars Vilks is a threat against all Swedes*." >>> David Charter, Europe Correspondent | Wednesday, March 10, 2010
*This is a threat against all Westerners, not just against Swedes. For this reason, all Western newspapers should publish all the cartoons. But they haven’t; and they won’t. The reason: They are too cowardly to stand up for the freedoms they espouse. Shame on them all! – © Mark
