2005-2014

7 February 2006

CPJ concerned at closure of Yemeni paper over cartoons

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressec concern at the Yemeni government's decision to revoke the license of the private weekly Al-Hurriya Ahliya and issue an arrest warrant for the paper's editor. The actions came after Al-Hurriya became the third Arab newspaper to publish controversial cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammed. The public prosecutor ordered the arrest late Monday of...

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7 February 2006

The clash to end all clashes?

In belated response to a cartoon depicting the Prophet Mohammed published in a Danish paper and subsequently reprinted across Europe, scenes of outrage filed out of London, Beruit, and Damascus, among other cities this weekend. Flags and embassies burned. Placards (in London!) read: "Behead those who insult Islam." In light of the anger unleashed, National Review Online asked some experts on Islam...

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6 February 2006

Protest these protests

It’s astonishing that the liberal intelligentsia in this country, which saturates us with its opinions on all topics that catch their fancy, have so little to say on what’s going on in Europe for the last few weeks. I refer of course to what is being called the Cartoon Controversy. Unfortunately, the issue is not funny at all. Now the 'protests' are spreading to India - in J&K and New Delhi...

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6 February 2006

Muslims angry at TOI over cartoons; editor apologises

Patna: Muslims Monday burnt copies of the Times of India here to protest the publication of caricatures of Prophet Mohammad in the local edition of the newspaper. Hundreds of Muslims, most of them youths, shouted slogans and demanded dismissal of the editor-in-chief of the Times of India for publishing the cartoons of the prophet that were originally carried by a Danish newspaper. Raj Kumar...

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6 February 2006

Protests over publication of Prophet's images in Patna

Scores of Muslims burnt copies of The Times of India in Patna on Monday, protesting against the reproduction of images of Prophet Mohammad that had first appeared in a Danish publication in September 2005. The protestors shouted slogans against the newspaper and demanded the editor's dismissal. Traffic was disrupted in the city's busy Ashok Rajpath area. The Patna edition of the Times of India...

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6 February 2006

Anti-press laws struck down in Guatemala

Guatemala's highest court has struck down laws that criminalised expressions deemed offensive to public officials. The court ruled that desacato, or disrespect, provisions were unconstitutional and constituted "an attack on freedom of expression and the right to be informed." ONE THAT GOT AWAY: Former military strongman Efrain Rios Montt, right, appears in court in Guatemala City, Friday January

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6 February 2006

Iranian journalist risks death penalty for comparing Islamic revolution with AIDS

Tehran, 6 Feb. (AKI) - A 19-year-old Iranian journalist, Elham Foroutan, risks the death penalty for a satirical article in which she compares the Islamic revolution in Iran to the AIDS virus. Foroutan, wrote the article for the magazine, Tamaddon Hormozgan, a weekly which is published in Bandar Abbas, in the south of Iran. Foroutan, was arrested together with six editors of the magazine, whose...

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6 February 2006

Editor reflects on Denmark's cartoon jihad

In Aarhus, Denmark, an editor says the societal debate unleashed by his paper's controversial decision to publish political cartoons of the prophet Muhammad has justified his move. In the town, many residents are standing behind Jyllands-Posten. The call came at five o'clock in the evening. A man warned the receptionist in English: There's a bomb in the building and it's going to go off in 10...

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6 February 2006

Everyone is afraid to criticize Islam

Ayaan Hirsi Ali, the Dutch politician forced to go into hiding after the murder of filmmaker Theo van Gogh, responds to the Danish cartoon scandal, arguing that if Europe doesn't stand up to extremists, a culture of self-censorship of criticism of Islam that pervades in Holland will spread in Europe. Auf Wiedersehen, free speech. SPIEGEL: Hirsi Ali, you have called the Prophet Muhammad a tyrant...

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6 February 2006

Chinese editor dies of severe police assault for cycle expose

A Chinese newspaper editor has died from injuries months after traffic police beat him up for an expose about exorbitant electric bicycle licence fees, Reuters has reported. Wu Xianghu, deputy editor of Taizhou Wanbao, died on Thursday last after receiving serious injuries in October 2005 when traffic police in the eastern coastal city of Taizhou, Zhejiang province, attacked him for an expose that...

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