2 February 2006

Alert

Newspaper receives bomb threat for cartoons of Muhammad


Incident details

newspaper(s)

threatened
(CPJ/IFEX) - The following is a CPJ press release:

Danish newspaper receives bomb threat for cartoon of Muhammad

New York, February 1, 2006 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by a bomb threat against the Copenhagen-based daily Jyllands-Posten in retaliation for publishing cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad. International media reported that a caller speaking English told the paper's switchboard on Tuesday that a bomb would explode in 10 minutes.

Police with dogs searched the newspaper's offices for several hours but found no bomb. Foreign correspondents and journalists working for the Danish news agency Ritzau in the same office block were also evacuated. Police also cleared and searched a Jyllands-Posten office in the northern Danish city of Aarhus.

Jyllands-Posten said it was flooded with over 80,000 e-mails as hackers tried to shut down its Web site (http://www.jp.dk/).

The paper published 12 cartoons of Muhammad on September 30, 2005, sparking furor in the Muslim world where depictions of the Prophet are forbidden. One drawing showed Muhammad wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a lit fuse.

"We deplore the bomb threat against this newspaper and its journalists," said CPJ Executive Director Ann Cooper. "Jyllands-Posten has the right to publish these cartoons and people who are offended by them have the right to express their anger. But no one has a right to threaten violence."

The cartoons gained increased attention after they were reprinted in the January 10 edition of Magazinet, a small Christian evangelical weekly based in Norway, according to local and international press reports. Magazinet editor-in-chief Vebjoern Selbekk said Tuesday that the newspaper had received some 20 death threats in retaliation for republishing the cartoons.

Danish embassies have faced protests and flag burnings throughout the Middle East. Libya closed its Copenhagen embassy and Saudi Arabia recalled its ambassador from Denmark. Iran and Iraq both formally protested to Denmark over the cartoons.

Some French and German newspapers, rallying to defend freedom of expression in secular societies, republished the caricatures on Wednesday, sparking fresh anger from Muslims.

The French daily France Soir ran a front-page headline "Yes, We Have the Right to Caricature God" and a cartoon of Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim and Christian gods floating on a cloud. Inside, the paper reprinted the Danish drawings.

In Germany, the dailies Die Welt and Berliner Zeitung ran some of the cartoons.

Jyllands-Posten originally published the cartoons after asking artists to depict Muhammad to challenge what it said was self-censorship among artists dealing with Islamic issues.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.cpj.org.



Source

Committee to Protect Journalists
330 7th Ave., 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
USA
info (@) cpj.org
Phone: +1 212 465 1004
Fax: +1 212 465 9568
 

Updates to this story

WPFC statement on editorial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed calls for mutual tolerance 7 February 2006

More on this case

Moroccan newspaper says it is a victim of state-organized protests, Syrian journalist arrested over cartoons 15 February 2006 IPI supports editorial independence in cartoon controversy, calls on politicians to recognise this principle when appealing for calm 14 February 2006 Journalists arrested, newspapers closed over prophet cartoons 14 February 2006 PEN Canada statement on cartoons depicting Muhammed 11 February 2006 Two more newspapers shut down for publishing prophet cartoons 10 February 2006 Newspaper closed, arrest warrant issued for editor over prophet cartoons 8 February 2006 Jordanian editors jailed for publishing prophet cartoons; censorship order in South Africa; attacks reported in Beirut 7 February 2006 Economic boycott of Danish products over cartoons an attempt at mass censorship, says CRN 3 February 2006 RSF appeals for calm and dialogue on Prophet caricatures 2 February 2006 "France Soir" editor dismissed for printing Danish cartoons of Mohammed 2 February 2006 RSF concerned about Jordanian parliament's call for Danish cartoonists to be punished 26 January 2006 WAN criticises Arab pressure on Danish newspaper 15 November 2005

Denmark

Arrests foil plot to assassinate creator of controversial cartoon 13 February 2008 WAN hails victory for press freedom as court acquits journalists of disclosing Iraq intelligence secrets 5 December 2006 IFJ testifies in defence of journalists accused of publishing government secrets in reports on Iraq 16 November 2006 Three journalists charged with "harming state security", face possible two-year prison sentence 13 November 2006 Two journalists indicted for reporting on Iraq intelligence 1 May 2006


 
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