A Dutch cartoonist was arrested and released this week for “suspicion of publishing work that is discriminatory against Muslims and people of colour.” The cartoonist, who goes by the name “Gregorius Nekschot,” is an established cartoonist whose work appears in magazines, but publishes most of his cartoons on the web because Dutch print media refused to publish his work.
The public prosecution department believes the cartoons broke the boundaries of free speech and are acting on complaints from a Muslim Imam, but Dutch politicians are questioning the action.
‘We are raising this affair at the highest level,’ Labour MP Ton Heerts told news agency ANP. ‘Taking legal action against a cartoonist goes too far.’
Geert Wilders, leader of the anti-immigration party PVV, accused the public prosecution department of have dictatorial tendencies. The arrest of the cartoonist is ‘outrageous and tasteless,’ Wilders said.
If you wanted to, under that criteria, every cartoonist could be arrested for â??suspicion of publishing work that is discriminatory against ….(fill in the blank)”. Somebody, somewhere is “offended” by virtually any cartoon, no matter what the subject matter. It’s just that not everyone has a bomb strapped to them.
Oh, dang… now I can’t go to the Netherlands…
I’m not surprised. But it still sucks.
Bad for him and cartooning, but sure to please Mike Lester.
I beg your pardon?
I think he’s alluding to the fact that you’re responsible for terrorism, Mike. Or was that rabies? Well, it’s all your fault anyway.
Yeah. Own it.
That’s not fair, Mike. You can’t hog all the terrorism credit. Some of us want a piece.