Yesterday in Aarhus, Denmark, the City Court dismissed a defamation suit that had been brought by seven Danish Muslim groups against the Jyllands-Posten for publishing now-infamous caricatures of the Prophet Muhammud last year. Yesterday's London Times says that the Danish court found that while the cartoons may have been offensive to some Muslims, there was no evidence that the paper had intended to insult the Prophet or mock the Islamic religion. When it published the cartoons, the Jyllands-Posten said its purpose was to challenge perceived self-censorship among artists who were afraid to offend Islam.
The court's dismissal of the defamation action immediately generated criticism in the Middle East (International Herald Tribune) and Pakistan (Examiner).
