"While appreciating that the cartoons have caused offence to many Muslims in Jordan and elsewhere, we respectfully remind you that the decision as to whether or not to publish such material is an editorial decision and not one with which the state - and in particular the criminal law - should interfere," the Paris-based WAN and the WEF said in a letter to Jordanian Interior Minister Awni Yerfas.
"The cartoons may have been in poor taste, but they were satirical in nature and did not incite violence," said the letter, which called for the charges to be dropped and for the journalists to be released from prison, where they are being held after requests for bail were denied.
Editors Jihad Momani of the weekly Shihan, and Hisham Khalidi of al-Mehwar, were arrested and charged with blasphemy after publishing the cartoons that were first published in Denmark. Shihan printed three of the cartoons alongside an editorial questioning whether the angry reaction of Muslims was justified, while Al-Mehwar reproduced the cartoons to accompany an article on the condemnation they had sparked.
The letter to the Interior Minister said:
"We are writing on behalf of the World Association of Newspapers and the World Editors Forum, which represent 18,000 publications in 102 countries, to express our serious concern at the prosecution of newspaper editors Jihad Momani and Hisham Khalidi for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that were first published in Denmark and have caused a storm of Muslim protest around the world.
"According to reports, Mr Momani, editor of the weekly Shihan, and Mr Khalidi, editor of al-Mehwar, were arrested on 4 February and detained at the Criminal Investigation Directorate in Amman. They appeared before Amman Public Prosecutor Saber Rawashdeh on 5 February, who charged them with blasphemy in violation of Article 278/1 of the Penalty Law. If convicted, Mr Momani and Mr Khalidi could be sentenced to up to three months in jail.
"Shihan printed three of the cartoons alongside an editorial questioning whether the angry reaction of Muslims was justified. Al-Mehwar reproduced the cartoons over a week ago to accompany an article on the condemnation they had sparked. Mr Momani was dismissed by Shihan’s publishers last week.
"While appreciating that the cartoons have caused offence to many Muslims in Jordan and elsewhere, we respectfully remind you that the decision as to whether or not to publish such material is an editorial decision and not one with which the state - and in particular the criminal law - should interfere. The cartoons may have been in poor taste, but they were satirical in nature and did not incite violence.
"We respectfully remind you that the prosecution of Mr Momani and Mr Khalidi constitutes a clear breach of their right to freedom of expression, which is guaranteed by numerous international conventions, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 19 of the Declaration states: ’Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers.’
"We respectfully call on you to do everything possible to ensure that the criminal charges against Mr Momani and Mr Khalidi are immediately dropped. We urge you and your government to set an example to the Muslim world by demonstrating tolerance and engaging in dialogue, rather than succumbing to censorship and repression."
More WAN press freedom protests here.
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 73 national newspaper associations, newspapers and newspaper executives in 102 countries, 11 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.
The WEF is the organisation for editors within the World Association of Newspapers (www.worldeditorsforum.org).
Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications, WAN, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. E-mail: lkilman@wan.asso.fr |
