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| Europe |
| Swedish Government Shuts Down Both Free Speech And Political Speech |
| 2006-02-10 |
| The Swedish government has moved to shut down the website of a far-right political party's newspaper over cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. The site's host, Levonline, pulled the plug on the website of the Swedish Democrats' SD-Kuriren newspaper after consulting with the government. It is believed to be the first time a Western government has intervened to block a publication in the growing row. Kuriren editor Richard Jomshof said the government was breaking the law. "We have to do something about it. This is illegal. They can't do this just because we are a small magazine," he told the BBC News website. The Swedish Democrats are a small anti-immigrant party with no representatives in parliament, but a few local elected officials. Jomshof said the newspaper had a print run of about 30,000. He had asked readers to send in their own Muhammad cartoons, but he denies intending to offend Muslims. His website briefly posted a picture showing Muhammad from the rear, looking into a mirror, with his eyes blacked out - an image he said was about self-censorship. "It was directed at the Swedish government and Swedish magazines," Jomshof said. "They are cowards for not standing by the Danish people and Jyllands-Posten [Danish newspaper which first published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad last year]." Swedish Foreign Minister Laila Freivalds described Kuriren's move as "a provocation" by "a small group of extremists". "I will defend freedom of the press no matter what the circumstances, but I strongly condemn the provocation by SD-Kuriren. It displays a complete lack of respect," she said in a statement. Levonline CEO Turkel Nyberg told the BBC News website his company had pulled the plug on the site after discussions with the foreign ministry and the security police. "It seemed like it could be a bad for us and for others to have the site up. The problem was the content, which was these Muhammad pictures," he said. He said he had been told by the government that Arab media were carrying reports about SD-Kuriren's call for cartoons about Muhammad. Sweden - which opposed the war in Iraq and is a leading donor to the Middle East - has largely avoided becoming the target of Muslim anger over the cartoons. The SD-Kuriren website is currently back online via a back-up server. "All they did was close down some links to the server. We have other links that are still working," Jomshof said. |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #7 I have worked with and like both the Swedes and the Danes. I think the difference between the two countries is best illustrated in that the Danish Queen Margrette's bloodline runs back to Harald Bluetooth and viking days while Sweden's King Carl Gustav traces his back to one of Napoleon's Marshalls, Count Bernadotte, a Frenchman. King Carl Gustav is a good king, but his royal motto is: "For Sweden - With the times." Queen Margrette's is "God's help, the love of the people, Denmark's strength" |
| Posted by: Ebbeagum Sheth4081 2006-02-10 21:22 |
| #6 "I will defend freedom of the press no matter what the circumstances..." Except of course under these circumstances. How very hypocritical. |
| Posted by: Rafael 2006-02-10 19:54 |
| #5 The liberal press has long sided with the muzzies and against the west. Now they get their due. I don't feel sorry for them. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-02-10 15:15 |
| #4 Oh it's fear of the locals. Sweeden is run by Dhimi political elites. "Sweden has the second-largest percentage Muslim population in Western Europe. France has the highest Muslim population percentage, 7 percent" |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2006-02-10 14:51 |
| #3 I'm not surprised. The swedes haven't had any backbone for the past 100 years at least. |
| Posted by: mmurray821 2006-02-10 14:03 |
| #2 This was the flinch that they were waiting for. Now they'll pour it on extra heavy. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2006-02-10 14:00 |
| #1 He said he had been told by the government that Arab media were carrying reports about SD-Kuriren's call for cartoons about Muhammad. He's scared. He's terrified at what they might do. The backing off is not to avoid "offending", it's an admission of fear of the hordes. The fear of all MSM is so evident, it's sickening. |
| Posted by: Hupomoger Clans9827 2006-02-10 13:37 |