Denmark: No defamation here

A final(?) ruling in Denmark on the editorial cartoons printed in a newspaper there over a year ago:


AARHUS, DENMARK — A court ruled yesterday that a Danish newspaper did not libel Muslims by printing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that unleashed a storm of protest in the Islamic world.

Seven Danish Muslim organisations brought the case, saying the paper had libelled them with the images by implying Muslims were terrorists. One cartoon depicted Mohammed with a bomb in his turban.

Jyllands-Posten, which published the 12 drawings in September last year, hailed the ruling, saying any other outcome would have been a catastrophe for a free press.

A Muslim imam said that the plaintiffs would continue to fight in higher courts.

The cartoons were reprinted elsewhere and at least 50 people were killed as angry Muslims rioted in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

Three Danish embassies were attacked and many Muslims boycotted Danish goods.
Many Muslims consider it blasphemous to depict Mohammed.

“Of course it cannot be excluded that the drawings offended some Muslims,” the Aarhus court said in its ruling. The court ordered the seven organisations to pay the newspaper’s court expenses. The plaintiffs have appealed to a higher court.

The ruling said some of the cartoons did not depict Mohammed or have a religious subject, while others fell outside the scope of defamation laws.

But the court did find that three of the cartoons fell within what the law could deem as insulting.

Ahmed Abu-Laban, a Copenhagen imam in one of the organisations that brought the lawsuit, said: “Freedom of speech has been the issue from the beginning. It is seen differently in Europe than we see it.”

He urged Danish journalists to exercise self-censorship when dealing with sensitive subjects and said he hoped Denmark would pass laws guaranteeing “the dignity of people”.

In March, Danish prosecutors declined to charge the newspaper under blasphemy and antiracism laws.

Reuters