The Hairpin Bend

Jeg har tidligere selvsikkert fremført, at ytringsfriheden og pressefriheden nok skal overleve denne kontrovers. Ja, måske ville den endda blive styrket af lidt modstand. Selvom jeg stadig tror dette, så er der alligevel sket et par bekymrende hændelser de seneste dage. Michelle Malkin opsummerer. Her et par uddrag:

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysia has slapped a blanket ban on circulating or even possessing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad after it closed a local newspaper for printing the same caricatures that have enraged the Islamic world.

JOHANNESBURG (VOA News) - The South African Freedom of Expression Institute says a judgment by the Johannesburg High Court which prevents the publishing of cartoons found offensive by the Muslim community is a major threat to press freedom. The Freedom of Expression Institute argues that while the cartoon should not be published, that decision should be made by newspaper editors not the courts.
The Muslim Judicial Council applied to the High Court for an interdict to prevent two of South Africa’s largest media houses publishing the offensive cartoons. The cartoons, which originally appeared in a Danish newspaper, have angered Muslim communities around the globe, sparking riots and protests in many countries. The judge agreed with the Council’s argument that the cartoons impinged on the constitutional rights of the Muslim community to dignity.

XINHUA (China News) - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday spoke out against those publishers who “pour oil on the fire” by reprinting controversial cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad while repeating his condemnation of the violent protests they have sparked. “Honestly, I do not understand why any newspaper will publish the cartoons today,” Annan told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York. “It is insensitive, it is offensive, it is provocative, and they should see what has happened around the world.”

SVERIGE (Dagens Nyheter) - Säkerhetspolisens och utrikesdepartementets reaktioner mot Sverigesdemokraternas publicering av en teckning av profeten Muhammed fick på torsdagen till följd att partiets sajt stängdes av internetleverantören. Trots det kunde bilden, som skickats in av en läsare och föreställde profeten Muhammed tittande i en spegel, fortfarande ses på en parallellsida under hela torsdagskvällen och fram till sjutiden på fredagsmorgonen då den togs bort sedan DN skrivit om saken.
Jyllands-Postens teckningar kan fortfarande ses på minst två svenska sajter. Den ena är en blogg skriven av en krist demokratisk politiker och den andra är Sverigesdemokraternas ungdomssajt.

Det ser altså ikke godt ud…