Norvège: attaque contre un caricaturiste de Mahomet déjouée

TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: Kurt Westergaard, le plus célèbre caricaturiste du prophète Mahomet a échappé à une attaque en Norvège. La police a arrêté un citoyen norvégien d'une trentaine d'années.

La police norvégienne a arrêté mardi une personne qui préparait une attaque contre le dessinateur danois Kurt Westergaard, l’auteur de la plus célèbre des caricatures du prophète Mahomet, a rapporté un journal norvégien.

M. Westergaard, 76 ans, avait annoncé plus tôt cette semaine qu’il avait à la demande des services de sécurité écourté un séjour en Norvège, où il devait participer à la présentation d’un livre à Oslo.

Le quotidien Dagbladet rapporte qu’un citoyen norvégien d’une trentaine d’années a été arrêté parce qu’il prévoyait une attaque contre le dessinateur, dans le collimateur des islamistes depuis sa caricature controversée. » | AFP | Samedi 17 Septembre 2011

Jordan to Try Danish Cartoonist
THE TELEGRAPH (AUSTRALIA): A JORDANIAN court will try Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard over a controversial caricature of the Muslim Prophet Mohammed.

Zakarya Sheikh, spokesman for a group of local media outlets that sued Westergaard in 2008 for depicting Mohammed with a bomb in his turban, said the artist and others have been summoned by a magistrates' court in Amman to stand trial on April 25.

the [sic] subpoena states Westergaard "is accused of the crime of blasphemy."

"These legal measures seek to prevent attempts to insult Islam and incite racial hatred against Muslims worldwide, particularly in Europe," Sheikh said. » | NewsCore | Friday, April 15, 2011

Danemark: 12 ans de prison requis contre l'agresseur du caricaturiste
LE POINT: Le procureur a requis 12 ans de réclusion à l'encontre du Somalien reconnu coupable jeudi de tentatives de "terrorisme" et de meurtre contre le caricaturiste danois de Mahomet, Kurt Westergaard, a constaté l'AFP au tribunal d'Aarhus.

"Au vu des circonstances aggravantes, il doit être condamné à 12 ans de prison", a déclaré la procureure Kirsten Dyrman après que l'accusé Mohamed Geele eut été reconnu coupable à l'unanimité. >>> AFP | Jeudi 03 Février 2011

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Somali man convicted for trying to kill Prophet Mohammed cartoonist: A Somali man has been found guilty of attempted terrorism for trying to kill a Danish cartoonist whose drawing of the Prophet Mohammed sparked Muslim outrage around the world. >>> | Thursday, February 03, 2011

Judge Censures Cartoonist over Court Outburst against 'Terrorist Attacker'
THE AUSTRALIAN: A Danish judge has had to call the cartoonist Kurt Westergaard to order after an outburst against the man who is accused of trying to kill him.

“He's just a cowardly liar, a terrorist!” exclaimed the 75-year-old, who has drawn the wrath of the Muslim world for his caricature of the Prophet Mohammed wearing a turban that resembled a bomb.

The accused man, a care worker of Somali origin, broke into the cartoonist's home a year ago, wielding an axe. On Wednesday, at the outset of the trial, Mohammed Geele, 29, said that he had used the axe to enter the house and that his aim was to frighten Mr Westergaard and express his anger about the cartoon.

Mr Westergaard rejected his version. “He was like a religious insane young man,” he told the court in Aarhus yesterday. “I believe he entered the house as a holy warrior who wanted to kill an infidel.” He turned to look at his assailant - the first time that they had actually seen each other. >>> Roger Boyes, The Times | Friday, January 21, 2011

Danish Cartoonist Tells Court He 'Faced Certain Death'
BBC: A Danish cartoonist who caricatured the Prophet Muhammad has told a court in Aarhus that a man who broke into his home meant to kill him with an axe.

Mr Westergaard was in the house with his grand-daughter when his front door was broken down. Photograph: BBC
Kurt Westergaard, 75, was testifying against Somali defendant Mohamed Geele, 29, who told the court he only wanted to "frighten" the cartoonist.

Mr Westergaard said Mr Geele had hacked at the door of his panic room.

When police arrived, they shot and wounded the suspect, who denies charges of terrorism and attempted murder.

Mr Westergaard's cartoon of a turban bomb was one of 12 published in Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005 that prompted protests among Muslims around the world.

Mr Westergaard first went into hiding but then decided to live openly in a heavily fortified house. >>> | Thursday, January 20, 2011

Denmark Starts Cartoon Attack Trial
AL JAZEERA ENGLISH: Somali man charged with attempted murder says he just wanted 'to scare' cartoonist who caricatured Prophet Muhammad.

Westergaard's 2005 caricature of Prophet Mohammed stirred anger in the Muslim world. Photograph: Al Jazeera English
A Somali man charged with trying to kill a Dane who caricatured Prophet Mohammad has appeared in court, saying he was only trying to scare the cartoonist.

The 29-year-old defendant, who axed his way into the home of Kurt Westergaard on New Years Day last year, pleaded not guilty to attempted murder on the first day of his trial on Wednesday.

"I was irritated and frustrated by his comments. I wanted to frighten him but not to kill him," he told a packed court in the central Danish town of Arhus.

The man was also charged with attempted murder for throwing the axe at police when they confronted him. He could face life in prison if found guilty on all counts: attempted terrorism, attempted murder, attacking a police officer and illegal arms possession.

The defendant, who Danish intelligence police say is linked to the Somali movement al-Shabab, insisted he had "bought the axe to help a friend cut down a tree."

"But I brought it with me to Arhus because I was very angry with [Westergaard] and wanted to break down his door to talk with him," he said. >>> Source: Agencies | Wednesday, January 19, 2011

JYLLANDS-POSTEN: Wie es ist, wenn Muslime einen töten wollen
WELT ONLINE: Die Mitarbeiter von "Jyllands-Posten" leben wegen der Mohammed-Karikaturen mit einem ständigen Gefühl der Bedrohung. Ein Besuch.

Kurt Westergaard hat sich schick gemacht. Schwarze Hose, schwarzes Hemd, schwarze Lederweste, dazu ein farbiges aber dezentes Halstuch. In der rechten Hand hält er einen schwarzen Stock mit einem Knauf aus Silber. Seit zwei Wochen hat er einen Herzschrittmacher, den ihm seine Frau Birgitta zu Weihnachten geschenkt hat. „Der ganze Eingriff hat nicht mal eine Stunde gedauert“, staunt Westergaard, „kaum war ich aus der Narkose aufgewacht, durfte ich nach Hause gehen.“

Vor einem Jahr, am 1.Januar 2010, wurde Westergaard in seinem Haus von einem somalischen Islamisten heimgesucht, der ihn mit Hilfe einer Axt belehren wollte, dass man den Propheten Mohammed nicht ungestraft karikieren darf. Westergaard hatte Glück, die Tür zum Badezimmer hielt den Axthieben stand, bis die Polizei eintraf, ihn befreite und den Besucher abführte. Damals nahm er sich vor, alt zu werden und auf seine Gesundheit zu achten. Jetzt, witzelt Westergaard, schlage „ein Peacemaker“ in seiner Brust. „Die hätten dir besser einen Troublemaker einsetzen sollen“, sagt Erik Guldager, der Westergaard als Agent und Galerist betreut. „Hab ich nicht nötig, bin selber einer“, antwortet der Künstler mit einem Anflug von Trotz.

Guldager ist 47, Westergaard 75 Jahre alt. Der eine könnte der Sohn des anderen sein. Westergaard hat 25 Jahre als Lehrer an einer Grundschule unterrichtet, bevor er Karikaturist wurde. Guldager hat „absolut nichts“ gelernt, aber viel unternommen. Er war Vertreter von BASF, Kellog's und Kodak in Dänemark, 2005 machte er sich mit einer Galerie für zeitgenössische dänische Kunst in Skanderborg bei Aarhus selbstständig.

Auch für Westergaard war 2005 ein Schicksalsjahr. Am 30. September druckte „Jyllands-Posten“, Dänemarks größte Tageszeitung, zwölf Mohammed-Karikaturen. Eine davon hatte Westergaard gezeichnet: Der Prophet mit einer im Turban versteckten Bombe auf dem Kopf. Es dauerte ein paar Wochen, bis Millionen von Muslimen in aller Welt bewusst wurde, dass sie beleidigt worden waren, von einem Mann, dessen Namen sie nicht aussprechen konnten, und von einer Zeitung, die sie bis dahin nicht einmal zum Anzünden von offenen Feuern benutzt hatten.

Während die anderen Zeichner auf Tauchstation gingen, stellte sich Westergaard der Welle der Empörung entgegen. Heute ist er der bekannteste Däne zwischen Nordkap und Kap Horn, ein Symbol der „bürgerlichen Anarchie“, die das Rückgrat der dänischen Leitkultur ausmacht. „Wir lassen uns nicht gerne sagen, was wir machen sollen oder nicht machen dürfen.“ Weiter lesen und einen Kommentar schreiben >>> Autor: Henryk M. Broder | Samstag, 08. Januar 2011

Merkel Honors Mohammad Cartoonist
YNET NEWS: German chancellor praises Dane who drew controversial Mohammad cartoon five years ago

German Chancellor Angela Merkel paid tribute to freedom of speech on Wednesday at a ceremony for a Dane whose cartoon of the Prophet Mohammad provoked Muslim protests that led to 50 deaths five years ago.


Merkel, who grew up in Communist East Germany, recalled her joy over the collapse of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

"Freedom for me personally is the happiest experience of my life," Merkel, 56, said at the conference on press freedom in Potsdam near Berlin. "Even 21 years after the Berlin Wall fell the force of freedom stirs me more than anything else."

She called press freedom a "precious commodity."

Honored at the event was Kurt Westergaard, who drew the most controversial of 12 cartoons of Mohammad which angered Muslims worldwide after appearing in a Danish paper in 2005. He thanked Merkel and the organizers for his award.

"We are living a good life despite all the threats," said Westergaard, 75. He added the publication of the cartoons had been out of respect for the Muslim community and that it was an act of inclusion, not exclusion.

Most Muslims consider any depiction of the founder of Islam to be offensive, and Westergaard's cartoon portrayed Mohammad with a turban resembling a bomb. At least 50 people died in riots by enraged Muslims in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. >>> Reuters | Thursday, September 09, 2010

Verbunden hier und hier

Mohammed-Karikaturist erhält Medienpreis
SCHWEIZER FERNSEHEN: Mit seinen Mohammed-Karikaturen hat er Moslems auf der ganzen Welt in Rage versetzt. Jetzt erhält der Däne Kurt Westergaard einen deutschen Medienpreis für sein Eintreten für die Pressefreiheit.

Merkels Bekenntnis zu Westergaard zeigt Größe
WELT ONLINE: Angela Merkel plädiert für die Pressefreiheit und schließt damit auch die Freiheit des islamkritischen Karikaturisten mit ein.

Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel plädiert für die Pressefreiheit. Bild: Welt Online
Es war kein Pflichttermin. Sie hätte es nicht tun müssen. Nur wenige Menschen wären nach einer Preisverleihung an den Karikaturisten Kurt Westergaard ohne die Laudatorin Angela Merkel auf die Idee gekommen zu fragen: Wo war denn gestern Abend eigentlich unsere Kanzlerin? Warum hat sie es nicht in die Festsäle der Orangerie in Potsdam geschafft und sich mit diesem Dänen abbilden lassen, dessen Mohammed-Zeichnung die islamische Welt vor sechs Jahren in Wallung versetzte?

Aber sie war da. Und hielt die bisher beste Rede ihrer Kanzlerschaft. "Keine Sonntagsrede“, wie sie gleich zu Beginn ihrer Philippika an die Medien betonte, „sondern Klartext.“ Das ist bemerkenswert, weil Angela Merkel bisher nicht in dem Ruf stand, öffentliche Reden und Auftritte im Fernsehen dazu zu nutzen, Tacheles zu reden. >>> Von Claus Christian Malzahn | Donnerstag, 09. September 2010

WELT ONLINE: Ehrung Westergaards – Merkels "Mangel an interkultureller Kompetenz": Deutsche Muslime kritisieren Kanzlerin Angela Merkel wegen der Ehrung Westergaards. Es sei ein unglücklicher Zeitpunkt. >>> | Donnerstag, 09. September 2010

Le caricaturiste de Mahomet est opposé à la destruction du Coran
TRIBUNE DE GENÈVE: RELIGION | Le dessinateur danois Kurt Westergaard, menacé de mort par des extrémistes musulmans pour avoir publié une caricature de Mahomet, a dénoncé le projet d'un petit groupe religieux américain de vouloir brûler le Coran.

Le dessinateur danois Kurt Westergaard, reçoit un prix média à Postdam [sic], le 8 septembre 2010. Photo : Tribune de Genève
"La provocation devrait pousser les gens à la réflexion, à éclaircir les choses, et à une prise de conscience. Ce n'est vraiment pas le cas ici", a estimé dans le quotidien Die Welt M. Westergaard, qui a reçu la veille un soutien appuyé de la chancelière allemande Angela Merkel.

Mais le caricaturiste, qui a reçu mercredi soir un prix récompensant la liberté de la presse, ne regrette pas ses propres dessins, affirmant que "rien ne va sans liberté d'opinion", et que "la satire est toujours une provocation". >>> AFP | Jeudi 09 Septembre 2010

La vie traquée du caricaturiste de Mahomet
Kurt Westergaard. Photo : Le Figaro
LE FIGARO: Depuis 2005, le dessinateur danois Kurt Westergaard est sous la menace d'une fatwa. Après avoir échappé à trois attentats, il change souvent de ville et de pays, ne sort jamais sans escorte armée et a transformé sa maison en forteresse. Rencontre avec un homme de 75 ans qui vit au jour le jour.

Ce ne sont que quelques traits à l'encre de Chine, mais ils ont déclenché une crise internationale et bouleversé à tout jamais la vie de leur auteur. Traqué, changeant souvent d'adresse après avoir échappé à trois attentats, le caricaturiste danois... [Source: Le Figaro] Par Stéphane Kovacs | Mercredi 07 Juillet 2010

Cet article est réservé aux membres Mon Figaro Select. >>>

Westergaard Wants to Meet His Would-be Killer
BBC: Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard says he wants to meet the man accused of trying to kill him.

Mr Westergaard has been the target of at least three murder plots after drawing a cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban. He was attacked in his home on New Year's Day.

After spending two weeks in a safe house, he has now returned home.

Malcolm Brabant reports. Watch BBC video >>> | Tuesday, January 19, 2010

BBC: What the Muhammad cartoons portray: Twelve caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad published in 2005 had a huge impact around the world, with riots in many Muslim countries the following year causing deaths and destruction - so what do the drawings actually say? >>> | Saturday, January 02, 2010

Attentat auf Karikaturisten: Mohammeds wahres Gesicht ist schwer zu ertragen
WELT ONLINE: Nach dem Attentat auf den Mohammed-Karikaturisten Kurt Westergaard wird wieder über die Grenzen der Satire gestritten. Dabei vergessen viele, um wen es hier eigentlich geht, beklagt der Philosoph Daniele Dell’Agli. Schließlich startete Mohammed seine Karriere als Karawanenräuber und Mörder.

Das Werk eines unbekannten Künstlers zeigt den Propheten Mohammed mit seiner Frau. Bild: Welt Online
Der schwelende Streit um die dänischen Mohammed-Karikaturen glimmt nach dem Attentat gegen ihren Zeichner Westergaard wieder auf, und alle Beteiligten tun so, als ob sie nicht wüssten, warum.

Die einen, moslemische Verbandssprecher und islamophile Europäer, machen nach wie vor verletzte religiöse Gefühle geltend, die je nachdem mit verbaler Empörung oder mit gewaltsamen Aktionen geschützt bzw. geahndet werden müssen; die anderen machen das Grundrecht auf Meinungsfreiheit geltend, das sie je nachdem für unantastbar oder für begrenzt – in Ausnahmefällen – suspendierbar erklären.

Alle sind sich jedoch darin einig, dass die Mohammed-Karikaturen deswegen Anstoß erregen, weil ihre Darstellung der Gestalt des Propheten nicht gerecht wird. Die einen nennen das Verleumdung, die anderen Satire.

Nun gibt es zwar viele Definitionen von Satire, doch keine, die den Tatbestand der Unwahrheit oder der Lüge beinhaltet; stets wird konzediert, dass satirische Darstellungen allenfalls übertreiben, um – in polemischer oder unterhaltender Absicht (beides schließt sich nur in Deutschland aus) – den Wahrheitskern eines Skandals oder eines im übrigen allgemein bekannten Missstands zu verdeutlichen.

Mehr noch: Die allgemeine Bekanntheit des jeweiligen historischen, politischen oder biografischen Hintergrunds ist sogar Voraussetzung für die satirische Absicht, sie würde sonst wirkungslos verpuffen. Worauf zielt die satirische Attacke in diesem Fall?

Ganz einfach darauf, dass der Begründer des Islam seine Karriere als Karawanenräuber und Mörder begonnen und als Herrscher von Medina Attentate auf politische Gegner sowie den Genozid an den dort ansässigen jüdischen Stämmen befohlen hat. Das sind historisch auch unter moslemischen Gelehrten unstrittige Tatsachen, die mindestens jedem Gebildeten der Nordhemisphäre hinlänglich bekannt sind. >>> Daniele Dell’Agli* | Freitag, 08. Januar 2010

*Daniele Dell’Agli ist Philosoph und Literaturwissenschaftler in Berlin.

Henryk M. Broder – After Attack on Danish Cartoonist: The West Is Choked by Fear
A Somalian man broke into the home of Kurt Westergaard on Friday armed with an ax and a knife. He is accused of the attempted murder of the Danish cartoonist. Photograph: Spiegel Online International
SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL – Editorial: The attack on illustrator Kurt Westergaard wasn't the first attempt to carry out a deadly fatwa. When Muslims tried to murder Salman Rushdie 20 years ago, the protests among intellectuals were loud. Today, though, Western writers and thinkers would rather take cover than defend basic rights.

In 1988, Salman Rushdie's novel "The Satanic Verses" was published in its English-language original edition. Its publication led the Iranian state and its revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, to issue a "fatwa" against Rushdie and offer a hefty bounty for his murder. This triggered several attacks on the novel's translators and publishers, including the murder of Japanese translator Hitoshi Igarashi. Millions of Muslims around the world who had never read a single line of the book, and who had never even heard the name Salman Rushdie before, wanted to see the death sentence against the author carried out -- and the sooner the better, so that the stained honor of the prophet could be washed clean again with Rushdie's blood.

In that atmosphere, no German publisher had the courage to publish Rushdie's book. This led a handful of famous German authors, led by Günter Grass, to take the initiative to ensure that Rushdie's novel could appear in Germany by founding a publishing house exclusively for that purpose. It was called Artikel 19, named after the paragraph in the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights that guarantees the freedom of opinion. Dozens of publishing houses, organizations, journalists, politicians and other prominent members of German society were involved in the joint venture, which was the broadest coalition that had ever been formed in postwar German history.

Sympathy for the Hurt Feelings of Muslims

Seventeen years later, after the Danish daily Jyllands-Posten published a dozen Muhammad cartoons on a single page, there were similar reactions in the Islamic world to those that had followed the publication of "The Satanic Verses." Millions of Muslims from London to Jakarta who had never seen the caricatures or even heard the name of the newspaper, took to the streets in protests against an insult to the prophet and demanded the appropriate punishment for the offenders: death. Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden even went so far as to demand the cartoonists' extradition so that they could be condemned by an Islamic court.

This time, however, in contrast to the Rushdie case, hardly anyone has showed any solidarity with the threatened Danish cartoonists -- to the contrary. Grass, who had initiated the Artikel 19 campaign, expressed his understanding for the hurt feelings of the Muslims and the violent reactions that resulted. Grass described them as a "fundamentalist response to a fundamentalist act," in the process drawing a moral equivalence between the 12 cartoons and the death threats against the cartoonists. Grass also stated that: "We have lost the right to seek protection under the umbrella of freedom of expression." >>> Henryk M. Broder | Monday, January 04, 2010

SPIEGEL ONLINE INTERNATIONAL: ’Islam Needs a Sexual Revolution’ >>>

Panic Room Saved Artist Kurt Westergaard from Islamist Assassin
THE SUNDAY TIMES: Just when Denmark thought the worst was over, Islamic fury has come back to haunt it with an assassination attempt on the artist whose cartoon of the prophet Muhammad as a suicide bomber had an explosive impact four years ago on the Muslim world.

An axe-wielding Somali extremist broke into the home of Kurt Westergaard on Friday night as the 75-year-old cartoonist was looking after Stephanie, his five-year-old granddaughter.

Westergaard, whose little ink drawing of Muhammad with a bomb in his turban sparked riots throughout the Middle East in 2006, has received numerous death threats. He pressed an alarm button to summon police when the attacker entered the house in Aarhus, Denmark’s second city, by breaking a window.

He did not have time to collect the child from the living room before locking himself into a “panic room”, a specially fortified bathroom. He said the assailant had shouted “swear words, really crude words” and shrieked about “blood” and “revenge”, as he smashed the axe in vain against the bathroom door. >>> Matthew Campbell | Sunday, January 03, 2010

The Understatement of the Century: 'Islam Sometimes Has Problems in Understanding Free Speech'
The cartoon of the prophet Muhammad that caused all the hullabaloo. Image courtesy of Google Images
MIDDLE EAST TIMES: Two years ago Denmark's daily newspaper Jylland-Posten published cartoons of Prophet Muhammad, depicting the most holy figure in Islam with a ticking bomb in his turban. The newspaper's decision to run the caricatures caused millions of offended Muslims to protest against Western values in front of Danish embassies around the world. The outrage mainly stemmed from a growing sentiment that the West opted for indifference when it came to empathizing with the Muslim plight in places such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestine.

In late February, encore appearances of the cartoons in four other Danish papers to show solidarity to cartoonist Kurt Westergaard who received death threats, deepened the crisis further. While most Muslim leaders called to" forgive, but not forget" despite the continuing anger, the West questioned its own values of liberal democracy and how to accommodate others.

On the eve of the Eid, the Muslim holiday celebrating the end of the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasting of Ramadan, Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen defended the publication of the cartoons and repeated that Islam had difficulty accepting core values of freedom and democracy.

Nevertheless, Rasmussen also sent a message of peace and positive dialogue to the Muslim world.

Photo of Anders Fogh Rasmussen courtesy of Google Images
The following interview was conducted last week at Columbia University in New York City, after the Danish prime minister addressed the university community in the World Leaders Forum. 'Islam Sometimes Has Problems in Understanding Free Speech' >>> By Afsin Yardakul | September 30, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Denmark) >>>

Elizabeth Samson: Criminalizing Criticism of Islam
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: There are strange happenings in the world of international jurisprudence that do not bode well for the future of free speech. In an unprecedented case, a Jordanian court is prosecuting 12 Europeans in an extraterritorial attempt to silence the debate on radical Islam.

The prosecutor general in Amman charged the 12 with blasphemy, demeaning Islam and Muslim feelings, and slandering and insulting the prophet Muhammad in violation of the Jordanian Penal Code. The charges are especially unusual because the alleged violations were not committed on Jordanian soil.

Among the defendants is the Danish cartoonist whose alleged crime was to draw in 2005 one of the Muhammad illustrations that instigators then used to spark Muslim riots around the world. His co-defendants include 10 editors of Danish newspapers that published the images. The 12th accused man is Dutch parliamentarian Geert Wilders, who supposedly broke Jordanian law by releasing on the Web his recent film, "Fitna," which tries to examine how the Quran inspires Islamic terrorism.

Jordan's attempt at criminalizing free speech beyond its own borders wouldn't be so serious if it were an isolated case. Unfortunately, it is part of a larger campaign to use the law and international forums to intimidate critics of militant Islam. For instance, in December the United Nations General Assembly passed the Resolution on Combating Defamation of Religions; the only religion mentioned by name was Islam. While such resolutions aren't legally binding, national governments sometimes cite them as justification for legislation or other actions.

More worrying, the U.N. Human Rights Council in June said it would refrain from condemning human-rights abuses related to "a particular religion." The ban applies to all religions, but it was prompted by Muslim countries that complained about linking Islamic law, Shariah, to such outrages as female genital mutilation and death by stoning for adulterers. This kind of self-censorship could prove dangerous for people suffering abuse, and it follows the council's March decision to have its expert on free speech investigate individuals and the media for negative comments about Islam.

Given this trend, it's worth taking a closer look at the Jordanian case. Opinion: Criminalizing Criticism of Islam >>> By Elizabeth Samson* | September 10, 2008

*Ms. Samson, an attorney specializing in international and constitutional law, will join the Hudson Institute this fall.

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>

Geert Wilders Agrees Compensation
POLITIKEN.DK: Cartoonist Kurt Westergaard is to receive DKK 55,000 in compensation from Dutch Geert Wilders for using Mohammed cartoon in Fitna film.

The Dutch politician Geert Wilders has agreed to pay the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard DKK 55,000 in compensation for using Westergaard’s cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed in his anti-Islamic film Fitna without permission.

Agreement was reached between Wilders and the Danish Union of Journalists, which was acting for Westergaard for breach of copyright. Geert Wilders Agrees Compensation >>> Edited by Julian Isherwood | September 4, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback – Denmark) >>>

Danish Cartoonist Editor: We’re Ready to Face Jordan Court
THE EARTH TIMES: Amman - The Danish cartoonist who drew caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed three years ago which sparked worldwide protests by Muslims and a boycott of Danish products said he was ready to defend himself in an Amman court, Jordanian media reported Thursday. "I would like to go to Amman to stand trial. However, what I fear is that I would be convicted in advance," Kurt Westergaard told the Jordan Times in an interview that was conducted in Copenhagen earlier this week.

On June 3, Amman Prosecutor Hassan Abdullat subpoenaed Westergaard and 20 other Danish journalists and editors involved in the republication of the 12 controversial images that were originally published in Denmark's Jyllands-Posten in September 2005.

The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed in April by a coalition of media outlets, professional syndicates and political parties.

The prosecutor's move was based on articles in the Jordanian penal code and the country's Press and Publication Law.

Westergaard said he had learnt that he had been subpoenaed by the Amman prosecutor, but that he had not been officially notified of the subpoena.

Asked about the rationale behind the pictures, the 73-year-old artist said, "I made the cartoons to highlight that there are some terrorists who misuse Islam and they take it as their spiritual ammunition."

"I wanted to depict the terrorists as if they were taking the Prophet Mohammed as a hostage. I have no problems with Islam but with the terrorists."

Westergaard described himself as an atheist and stressed his respect for Islam and all religions, but refused to apologize.

"I respect Islam and its followers and I have nothing against it. However, I will not apologize. We have freedom of the press and religion in Denmark," he said. Danish Cartoonist, Editor: We're Ready to Face Jordan Court >>> By DPA | August 14, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US) >>>