The country which shows the maximum respect for press freedom is now under threat from Islamic fundamentalists. Death threats have been made against two cartoonists ? whose names are being withheld for security reasons ? after 12 cartoons of Mohammed appeared in the conservative daily Jyllands-Posten in Copenhagen.
One of the 12 cartoons, published on September 30 this year, in Denmark’s number one daily with a circulation of 200,000, shows the head of Mohammed wearing a turban in the form of a bomb, the fuse of which is lit. All representation of the prophet is banned by Islam.
Jyllands-Posten published the series of cartoons to find out if cartoonists in Denmark were operating self-censorship. It made an appeal to cartoonists after a writer complained that nobody dared illustrate his book about Mohammed. Twelve of them responded.
The newspaper’s editor, Carsten Juste, decided on October 12 to hire security staff to protect the journalists working for him after receiving several phone and emailed death threats following publication of "Faces of Mohammed". The two cartoonists against whom the threats were made have been forced into hiding.
"We live in a democracy," Juste said. "That's why we can use all the journalistic methods we want to. Satire is accepted in this country, and you can make caricatures. Religion shouldn't set any barriers on that sort of expression. This doesn't mean that we wish to insult any Muslims."
The Paris-based Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) expressed concern and said, in a statement "It is unbelievable that one can make death threats against cartoonists in Denmark, one of the countries in the world that shows most respect for press freedom." The country has just been ranked number one (jointly with Finland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, and Switzerland)in the RSF Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005.
"It is shocking that they have been forced to hide for having published cartoons that caused offence," RSF said. "No form of pressure or obstacle should force journalists into self-censorship, whatever subjects they choose. We call on the interior minister to open an investigation so that whoever is responsible for these threats can be punished as quickly as possible."
Muslim religious leaders in Denmark, who saw the cartoons as an insult to Islam and the prophet called on the conservative daily to withdraw the cartoons and to make an official apology. More than 5,000 Muslims demonstrated in the streets of Copenhagen on October 14, saying the cartoons were "provocative" and "arrogant".
A number of Islamic countries have joined the issue with their embassies in Denmark sending protest letters to Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the ministry of foreign affairs about the caricatures. "We are hoping for an understanding about Muslims' feelings about Mohammed. And we're hoping for an apology from Jyllands-Posten," said an official at the Indonesian embassy.
Apart from Indonesia, a number of Arab states, Pakistan, and Iran have also complained about the cartoons, which they see as a "hate campaign against Muslims" in Denmark. None of these countries feature even in the top fifty of the Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2005.
