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The Sunday Times International

Defiant Danes defend free speech
Marisa de Silva in Denmark
"Childish. Irresponsible. Hate speech. A provocation just for the sake of provocation. A PR stunt. Critics of 12 cartoons of the prophet Mohammad published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten have not minced their words. They say that freedom of expression does not imply an endorsement of insulting people's religious feelings, and besides, they add, the media censor themselves every day. So, please do not teach us a lesson about limitless freedom of speech."

- Flemming Rose the culture editor of Jyllands-Posten
The riots that were sparked throughout the Muslim World over the 12 controversial cartoon drawings of the Prophet Mohammed published in a Danish Newspaper on September 30 last year, may be reignited once more, as Denmark's Prosecutor General stated this week that he would not press charges against the Danish newspaper.

The Prosecutor General Henning Fode stressed that there were limits to Denmark's freedom of expression laws, but found that the newspaper did not violate those laws.

"I have decided today not to institute criminal proceedings in the case of Jyllands-Posten's article 'The Face Of Mohammed', which was published on September 30, 2005, and where complaints were filed against the paper for violation of sections 140 and 266(b) of the Danish criminal code," Fode wrote in a statement.

The complaints were filed by a number of organizations and individuals. The Editor of the Jyllands-Posten, Carsten Juste said he was pleased with the prosecutor's ruling. "It's a very satisfying decision that the prosecutor has reached," Juste told Danish news agency Ritzau.

However, he disagreed that there were limits to freedom of expression.
"We all agree that we have freedom of expression under the responsibility of the courts, but to say that one from the start has limited freedom of expression, I don't think you can say that," he said.

"The freedom of speech is very sacred in Denmark, so what the newspaper did was completely legal in our opinion" said the Political Advisor of the Danish Conservative Party (the ruling party), Frank Korsholm. If or not the newspaper "should" have published the cartoons is another topic, he said.

In response to whether Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen handled the situation well, Mr. Korsholm said "in general, the Prime Minister handled the situation rather satisfactorily, especially as the premise for the meeting wasn't something that could be acted on. However, if at the time we had known the kind of reactions it would have triggered off around the world, we may have acted differently. It's always easier to be wise afterwards" he added.

Reiterating the stand of the ruling party, Soren Sondergaard, Chief of Press of the Danish People's Party (a constituent party of the ruling alliance) said: "the Danes are known for their direct rude sense of humour, that's just the way we are".

"We don't understand how our humour is relevant to other countries. Just like we won't go to another country and try to dictate terms to them, we don't want the outside world to tell us how to do things here. We respect diversity," he said.

Mr. Sondergaard said the Danish media and politicians must respect other religions and their beliefs but should not allow these beliefs to be enforced here in Denmark. "Why should I be made to abide by a book I don't believe in" he asked.

"People should have the freedom to or not to respect religion, said Mr. Sondergaard. "We want to have our beliefs, the Muslims can have theirs," he said. "For us here in Denmark, our freedom and privacy is our religion, it's just as important as the Quran is to the Muslims.

"There's a lot of frustration amidst the people residing in the Muslim world, both against western domination and against their own governments. Therefore, this was the ideal vehicle to vent their disgruntlement," he said.
Mr. Sondergaard said the cartoon crisis had highlighted that the Muslims had trouble integrating into Danish society. However, many Muslims have integrated very well into society, it's mostly the fundamentalists who want the Sharia law to override the law here.

According to Sheik Ahmad Abu Laban, leader of the Islamic Society in Denmark, (who was part of the delegation of Danish Muslims who travelled to the Muslim countries last year), "the publication of these cartoons ended up being counter productive as the freedom of expression isn't meant to cause a state of national crisis".

This is an ideal opportunity to draw the attention of the whole of Europe to the issue of integration and how best to create an environment conducive to emigrant integration.

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