Saturday, February 5, 2011

Somalian imprisoned for attacking cartoonist in Denmark

A court in Aarhus, Denmark has sentenced Mohamed Geele, a 29-year-old Somalian man to 9 years in prison in relation to the attempted murder of Kurt Westergaard, a Danish cartoonist famous for drawing Prophet Mohammed
75-year-old Kurt Westergaard. Photo: BBC World Service.

In 2005, Kurt Westergaard's depiction of Prophet Mohammed angered the Muslim world and triggered protests and a diplomatic storm between Denmark and the Muslim world. The cartoon which was published in a Danish newspaper resulted in death threats against the cartoonist. 


As a result of all the controversy surrounding his work, Westergaard - the cartoonist - was placed under police surveillance - for his own safety.

Many people around the world, including Mohamed Geele considered Westergaard's cartoon an insult to islam. In January 2011, Mohamed Geele broke into the house of Westergaard, armed with an ax, in a bid to get "revenge", but the intruder was stopped by the police before he could reach his target.

Mohamed Geele was found guilty of attempted murder and terrorism on February 3, 2011. He was sentenced to 9 years in prison, after which he will be expelled and permanently banned from Denmark.

This court verdict upholds democratic principles of free thought, free speech and the right to hold and express opinions. Although I would not exercise these rights and freedoms in a way that would be considered offensive or insulting, any attempt to murder or silence anyone who chooses to do otherwise is unacceptable.

You might like to listen to Kurt Westergaard speak to the BBC about the attack.


3 comments:

  1. I'm glad I found your blog! Congratulations on being chosen a Blog of Note!!!

    Steve
    Common Cents
    http://www.commoncts.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sad story.

    My thought is that Mohamed Greele's actions actually produced opposite results of his intent.

    Westergaard's cartoon becomes more noticeable, not less.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well done! Keep up the good work!

    ReplyDelete

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