Saturday, August 16, 2008

Danish cartoonist story revisited

Last month I argued on this blog http://thearabobserver.blogspot.com/2008/07/lets-sue-people-around-world-hurraaay.html that it was okay to sue the Danish cartoonist in the Jordanian courts irrespective of the out come of the law suit. Less than one month after wards we learn in this report http://www.arabianbusiness.com/527794-cartoonist-ready-for-blasphemy-trial-in-jordan that the cartoonist is ready, willing, and able to stand trial. The only thing that is standing between then and now is that he hadn't been officially notified through the proper channels about the law suit, nor did he receive a subpoena summoning him to appear before a judge. He isn't sorry and he doesn't believe that he did anything wrong, he firmly believes in his freedom to express himself in the way he sees fit and willing to defend that even under unusually difficult circumstances. It would very interesting to see how this highly publicized story continue to develop. I wonder if he would indeed come to Jordan to confront his accusers. Can you imagine the type of security that would have to be put in place by the Jordanian authority to protect the life of this cartoonist during the length of his trial. I wonder also given all of the publicity that this story has been a given, a fair trial can be conducted with all of the hype taking place outside the court building. I finally wonder if there was not enough evidence to convict him, would he in deed be acquitted of the charges against him, and by contrast if he were to get convicted whether he would serve time in the Jordanian jails or he would be sent back to his country to serve jail time over there. I know that I'm probably already over reacting and there is a big possibility a trial may never take place and he may never set a foot on the Jordanian soil. All I'm doing at this point is trying to think of all of the possibilities that might happen. This is a very unique case and I'm not sure if the Jordanian judicial system has ever been faced with such a complicated international situation that extends not only beyond the Jordanian borders and the regional borders but rather all the way to western Europe. I'm going to keep a close watch on this story and should there be any new developments I'll update it on my blog accordingly.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

possibility a trial may never take place and he may never set a foot on the Jordan.i agree.

Anonymous said...

possibility a trial may never take place and he may never set a foot on Jordan.i agree.

The Observer said...

He also stated that he didnt meant to mock the Prophet neither offending Islam. His cartoons meant to be against terrorists and that is what he won't apologize for.

But we are not able to even to listen to what he has to say!

Hani Obaid said...

"I finally wonder if there was not enough evidence to convict him" <----- Not by international law. By local law I think there is a rule against doing/writing anything that can cause fueds (na3rat). On the other hand there is also a law against anything that jeopardizes relations with a friendly state.

Personally I think he's very rude but not guilty of anything legally, and doesn't deserve a jail sentence.