Dutch cartoonist arrested on suspicion of violating hate speech laws – International Herald Tribune

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: A Dutch political cartoonist was arrested this week on suspicion of insulting people because of their race or religion through his work, authorities said Friday.The cartoonist, who works under the pseudonym Gregorius Nekschot, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of violating hate speech laws and held overnight before being released, a spokeswoman for his publisher Uitgeverij Xtra said.

“He was arrested with a great show of force, by around 10 policemen,” the spokeswoman said.

She asked that her name not be used, and declined to give Nekschot’s real name, because the cartoonist and publisher have both received death threats.

Nekschot is known primarily for cartoons mocking Muslims and leftists, though the spokeswoman said he is a satirist who targets “any strong ideology.”

Amsterdam public prosecutor spokeswoman Sanne van Meteren said Nekschot remains a suspect in a criminal investigation.

“We suspect him of insulting people on the basis of their race or belief, and possibly also of inciting hate,” she said.

Each is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison under Dutch hate speech laws — or two years for multiple offenses.

Nekschot publishes primarily on several Web sites, including his own, but has also been featured on the Web site of Theo van Gogh, the filmmaker who was murdered by a Muslim radical in November 2004.

The cartoonist also works for HP/De Tijd, a major Dutch language weekly news magazine, and he has published two books.

One recent cartoon on his web site caricatured a Christian fundamentalist and Muslim fundamentalist as zombies who met at an anti-gay rally and now wished to marry.

Van Meteren said prosecutors were investigating a complaint that dated from 2005. They are now focusing on eight or nine published cartoons, she said, but prosecutors are not disclosing which ones.

Nekschot did not answer police questions during his arrest, she said, appealing to his right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.

The spokeswoman for Xtra said police had seized Nekschot’s computer, sketches, CDs, DVDs and telephone at the time of his arrest.

Dutch cartoonist arrested on suspicion of violating hate speech laws – International Herald Tribune

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: A Dutch political cartoonist was arrested this week on suspicion of insulting people because of their race or religion through his work, authorities said Friday.The cartoonist, who works under the pseudonym Gregorius Nekschot, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of violating hate speech laws and held overnight before being released, a spokeswoman for his publisher Uitgeverij Xtra said.

“He was arrested with a great show of force, by around 10 policemen,” the spokeswoman said.

She asked that her name not be used, and declined to give Nekschot’s real name, because the cartoonist and publisher have both received death threats.

Nekschot is known primarily for cartoons mocking Muslims and leftists, though the spokeswoman said he is a satirist who targets “any strong ideology.”

Amsterdam public prosecutor spokeswoman Sanne van Meteren said Nekschot remains a suspect in a criminal investigation.

“We suspect him of insulting people on the basis of their race or belief, and possibly also of inciting hate,” she said.

Each is a crime punishable by up to a year in prison under Dutch hate speech laws — or two years for multiple offenses.

Nekschot publishes primarily on several Web sites, including his own, but has also been featured on the Web site of Theo van Gogh, the filmmaker who was murdered by a Muslim radical in November 2004.

The cartoonist also works for HP/De Tijd, a major Dutch language weekly news magazine, and he has published two books.

One recent cartoon on his web site caricatured a Christian fundamentalist and Muslim fundamentalist as zombies who met at an anti-gay rally and now wished to marry.

Van Meteren said prosecutors were investigating a complaint that dated from 2005. They are now focusing on eight or nine published cartoons, she said, but prosecutors are not disclosing which ones.

Nekschot did not answer police questions during his arrest, she said, appealing to his right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination.

The spokeswoman for Xtra said police had seized Nekschot’s computer, sketches, CDs, DVDs and telephone at the time of his arrest.

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Danish cartoonist: Dutch politician should air his anti-Quran film – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

In the Dutch daily newspaper Volkskrant an interview with Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard by Nanda Troost, about his predicaments after the recent death threats and the Fitna movie by Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

Read the Dutch version HERE

The english version HERE

ÅRHUS – Dutch politician Geert Wilders should definitely air his anti-Quranfilm, Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard says Monday in an exclusive interview in the Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’.
Westergaard says he does not understand Dutch politicians who say that Wilders should not air his film. ‘There is not a single politician in Denmark that would state a similar thing. That would mean political suicide for him. Every Danish politician knows you should never limit the freedom of speech.’

Westergaard does not regret his caricatures of the prophet Muhammad ‘at all’. ‘It started out as and still is a matter of freedom of speech.’ Westergaard considers starting this debate as a ‘duty’ of newspapers and cartoonists. ‘Muslims are to accept that.’

Extremist
The Danish cartoonist loathes the role of members of the Muslim elite, because they compare him to ‘an extremist like Osama bin Laden’. Westergaard: ‘After the nazis, fascists and communists there is a new totalitarian force threathening Europe, of course not Muslims as a group, but a number of extremists’.

Westergaard considers his cartoons perfectly acceptable and thinks ‘everything’ should be able to be said in democracies as Denmark and the Netherlands. If Muslims feel offended by that, they should ‘learn’ to cope with that. ‘We live in a tolerant society. This is the way we do this here.’

Shelter
Death threats have forced Westergaard to live in safe houses. He will soon be moving to a new shelter for the sixth time. He was first criticized after he had drawn a picture of the prophet Muhammed wearing a bomb-shaped turban for the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. His caricatures were recently republished by several newspapers in Denmark. Three men plotting an attack on his life were arrested mid February.

Dutch politician Geert Wilders also receives death threats from radical Muslims because of his extreme criticism on islam. The Dutch Prime minister as well as politicians from outside the Netherlands, have put pressure on Wilders in the past weeks to reconsider his plan to air his anti-Quran film in late March. Wilders has refused all requests.

More than 200 thousand people demonstrated against the Danish cartoons and the Dutch film of Wilders in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Sunday. ‘Death to Denmark, death to the Nederlands’, the crowd shouted. In the past few weeks there have been many demonstrations against the cartoons and the film in other cities of Afghanistan and other Muslim countries.

Danish cartoonist: Dutch politician should air his anti-Quran film – Binnenland – de Volkskrant

In the Dutch daily newspaper Volkskrant an interview with Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard by Nanda Troost, about his predicaments after the recent death threats and the Fitna movie by Dutch politician Geert Wilders.

Read the Dutch version HERE

The english version HERE

ÅRHUS – Dutch politician Geert Wilders should definitely air his anti-Quranfilm, Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard says Monday in an exclusive interview in the Dutch newspaper ‘de Volkskrant’.