THE COPENHAGEN POST ONLINE: Justice minister calls it unacceptable that proposed lawsuit against Danish newspapers could be heard in British court system
Because EU member states generally recognise the authority of each other's legal systems, Denmark may be forced to pay damages through the British courts if plaintiffs win their lawsuit over the printing of the Mohammed cartoons.
Saudi lawyer Faisal Yamani has taken the case to court in London – claiming to have done so on behalf of some 95,000 descendants of the prophet Mohammed – saying the drawings amount to defamation against them and the Islamic faith.
In August last year, Yamani requested that 11 Danish newspapers remove all the relevant images from their websites and issue apologies along with promises that the images would never be printed again.
Politiken was the only newspaper to agree to the demand, having acquiesced last month.
But justice minister Lars Barfoed has now asked the European Commission to step in to stop the case from being heard in the UK. Barfoed said that while he respected the legal cooperation among EU member states, the proposed lawsuit amounts to a restriction on the freedom of expression.
‘It’s fundamentally reasonable that judgments in the EU can often be exercised across borders,’ Barfoed told Berlingske Tidende newspaper. ‘But it would be taking it to the extreme if a UK court could rule against the Danish media and then require compensation and court costs to be paid.’ >>> RC News | Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Related:
THE TELEGRAPH: Defamation Case Over Prophet Mohammed Cartoons 'To Be Held' in Britain >>> Bruno Waterfield in Brussels | Tuesday, March 16, 2010
