Pakistan Charges Foreign Papers, Internet Firms With Blasphemy, Capital Offense

Pakistan's Daily Times reports that the Muhammad cartoon controversy is still alive. Iqbal Haider, head of the People’s Support Movement in Pakistan, convinced Pakistan's Supreme Court on Tuesday to order police to register charges under Pakistan's blasphemy law against the Danish newspaper, Jyllands-Posten, its editor, publisher, a cartoonist, and newspapers in France, Italy, Ireland, Norway and the Netherlands that published derogatory drawings of the Prophet Muhammad. Violations of the blasphemy law can be punished by a sentence of death. Also charged were the Internet companies, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Google, who allowed access to the offending drawings. Haider says that now the government should contact the Interpol to bring the offenders to court in Pakistan. Prosecutors, however, say that Pakistan's courts have no jurisdiction since the offenses were committed outside the country. [Thanks to Jawa Report for the lead.]