JURIST - Paper Chase: Danish Muslim groups sue newspaper editors for defamation over cartoons

[JURIST] A group of 27 Muslim organizations have filed a lawsuit against the two editors from Jyllands-Posten [media website] who were responsible for the Danish newspaper's publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive], which last month set off worldwide protests among Muslims leading to multiple deaths [JURIST report], the burning of Danish embassy buildings [JURIST report], and boycotts of Danish goods. The suit, filed in the Danish city of Aarhus, alleges defamation by editor-in-chief Carsten Juste and culture editor Flemming Rose and seeks over $16,000 in damages, according to the lawyer for the Muslim groups, Michael Christiani Havemann.

The lawsuit follows the announcement [text] by Denmark's Director of Public Prosecutions [official website] Henning Fode that the government would not press criminal charges [JURIST report] against the newspaper or its employees. Declining to file charges earlier this month, Fode maintained that the cartoons were protected by freedom of speech laws and did not violate bans on racist and blasphemous speech. Aljazeera has more.

For a one-stop snapshot of the latest legal news that matters, with breaking documents, new legal videos, live law-related webcasts, commentary by expert law professors and more - all updated through the day in real time, with no ads and no registration barriers - visit JURIST's homepage and check back often...