By Muin Abdul Majid, Bernama,
Dubai : The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Observatory on Islamophobia has expressed disappointment and dismay at the decision of a Danish court that the publication of offensive cartoons of Prophet Muhammad by the Jyllands-Posten newspaper in Denmark in 2005 was not illegal under Danish law on the ground that terror acts were carried out in the name of Islam.
“The Danish court ruling came as a surprise to the OIC at a time when almost all western governments, including the United States, have made categorical statements rejecting any linkages between Islam and terrorism,” a spokesman from the OIC entity said in a statement.
An AP news report said the Western High Court in Aarhus, northwest of Copenhagen, on Thursday upheld last year’s lower court ruling which rejected claims by Danish Muslims that the 12 drawings were meant to insult the prophet and make a mockery of Islam.
The court said it was not proven that Jyllands-Posten’s purpose in printing the cartoons was to depict Muslims as criminals or terrorists, according to the AP report.
The court ruled that terror acts had been carried out in the name of Islam, and that it was not illegal under Danish law to make satirical drawings to illustrate that.
The spokesman reiterated the principled position of the OIC and that of the OIC member states that terrorism had no connection with Islam or with any other religion, and that its proponents were the common enemy of entire international community.
The linkage drawn by the Danish court between Islam with terror to legalise the printing of the offensive cartoons and causing widespread insult to the sentiments of the Muslims was most unfortunate, he said, adding that it could create a precedent for exacerbation of Islamophobia.
The depiction of Prophet Muhammad is prohibited under Islamic law.
The caricatures were reprinted in European newspapers in 2006, and in Danish newspapers earlier this year.