Editorial cartooning

Update on the Iranian cartoonist sentenced to 25 lashings

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Alan Gardner May 9, 2012 1 minute 3 comments

Yesterday I posted news that Iranian cartoonist Mahmoud Shokraye had been sentenced to 25 lashings for depicting a local official in a football (soccer to us Yankees) jersey. Information about the case has been limited, but The Guardian has picked up the story and provides a bit more context and detail. Doesn’t change much, though.

From The Guardian

Iranian politicians, including Ashtiani, have been recently criticised for interferring in the country’s sports. The MP’s forehead in the cartoon (as also in reality) has a dark mark, said to be the sign of a pious muslim, caused (supposedly) by frequent prostration during prayer.

Shokraye was subsequently sued by the MP for having insulted him. A court in Markazi province, of which Arak is the capital, sentenced the cartoonist to 25 lashes ? an unprecedented punishment for an Iranian cartoonist.

The article indicates that cartoonists within Iranian have done one of three things in dealing with the lack of tolerance: leave, quit or self-censor.