Cartoon lawsuit thrown out

2006-10-26 13:53

Copenhagen - A Danish court on Thursday dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed by seven Muslim organisations against a newspaper that published contentious cartoons of the prophet Muhammad last year.

The city court in Aarhus said it could not be ruled out that some Muslims had been offended by the 12 drawings printed in Jyllands-Posten, but said there was no reason to assume that the cartoons were meant to "be diminutive toward Muslims".

The organisations filed the lawsuit against Jyllands-Posten in March, saying they felt the 12 cartoons were defamatory and injurious.

A court hearing was held in the case on October 9 in the western city of Aarhus, where Jyllands-Posten is based.

The newspaper published the 12 cartoons on September 30 with an accompanying text saying it was challenging a perceived self-censorship among artists afraid to offend Islam.

Violent protests

The caricatures were reprinted in European papers in January and February, fuelling a fury of protests in the Islamic world. Some turned violent, with protesters killed in Libya and Afghanistan and several European embassies attacked.

Islamic law forbids any depiction of the prophet, even positive ones, to prevent idolatry.

One of the cartoons showed the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb with a burning fuse. Another portrayed him holding a sword, his eyes covered by a black rectangle, and a third pictured a middle-aged prophet standing in the desert with a walking stick, in front of a donkey and a sunset.

"The judge has to find out whether the freedom of speech weighs heavier than the fact that some people feel they were offended," media expert Oluf Joergensen told the TV2 channel.

The newspaper apologised for offending Muslims after violent protests against Denmark erupted in the Middle East, but stood by its decision to print the drawings, citing the freedom of speech.

- AP