On Wednesday, the Attorney General in Denmark decided that there is no basis for pressing charges against the newspaper Jyllands-Posten for publishing drawings of Mohammed. 27 Danish Muslim organizations have filed a report against the paper for “insulting the feelings of Muslims worldwide”, which led to a legal investigation by the Attorney General to determine whether or not the drawings violated Danish law.
His decision was highly anticipated, since it would determine whether or not Jyllands-Posten could be taken to court over the issue, which has sparked violent protests in Muslim countries around the world.
“Today I have decided that no prosecution should be initiated in the case concerning Jyllands-Posten’s article ‘The Face of Mohammed’,” attorney general Mr. Henning Fode said in a press release yesterday.
The 27 Danish Muslim organizations who officially reported Jyllans-Posten to the authorities were referring to the law’s so-called “blasphemy article”, which states that anyone who insults something pertaining to a religious society’s doctrines or acts of worship can be punished or imprisoned for up to four months. The attorney general did agree that certain of the drawings – especially the one picturing Mohammed with a bomb in his turban – could be taken as highly offensive, however he did not deem it a violation of law.
Fear of Another Anti-Danish Uproar
The reaction to the decision came almost immediately both from the 27 Danish Muslim organizations and from the Danish Foreign Ministry in Copenhagen. The offended Muslims now threaten to take the case to the Human Rights Court in Strasbourg, while the Foreign Ministry immediately engaged their diplomatic muscle. An official warning has been sent to Danes in a long list of countries – including Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia.
“This decision [of the attorney general] may cause negative reactions against Danes and Danish interests abroad. Thus Danes should be especially careful in the coming days…,” says the statement, which has been posted in the Foreign Ministry’s official travel advisory to the countries involved.
