NIS NEWS BULLETIN: COPENHAGEN - For the first time since his arrest, Dutch cartoonist Gregorius Nekschot has spoken in public. This did not take place in the Netherlands though but in Denmark, at the invitation of the Free Press Society.
The organisation wished to give Nekschot a platform in Copenhagen in protest against "that shameless Netherlands, with that shameless government, which is endangering freedom to speech," the president of the Free Press Society, Lars Hedegaard, said in De Volkskrant newspaper yesterday.
The Dutch cartoonist wore an Islamic all-enveloping robe in Copenhagen, making him totally unrecognisable. He chose a nikab as a statement against Islam as a suffocating ideology, but also to show that he has been living in "a prison" for almost a year although he has not been physically locked up.
The then relatively unknown cartoonist was arrested in his home in Amsterdam on 13 May 2008 for causing offence and inciting to hatred. He is still awaiting a decision from the Public Prosecutors' Office (OM) on whether he will be prosecuted.
Nekschot, who has never dared to show his face or reveal his true name in the media, stated the arrest has put him in danger. His anonymity is at risk; if he is prosecuted, everyone will know who he is - including Muslim extremists. "Look what happened to Theo van Gogh," De Volkskrant quoted him as saying.
After the Danish cartoon riots, the Dutch government set up an 'Interdepartmental Work Group on Cartoon Problems'. Nekschot says he was arrested by this group - "the most ridiculous institution ever in Dutch history" - as a gesture to the Arab world. [Source: NIS News Bulletin] Thirsday, February 5, 2009
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