This morning, three people with Muslim background were arrested by Danish Police, suspected of conspiring to kill Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, one of the 12 cartoonists that portrayed the prophet Mohammed in Danish paper Jyllands-Posten in 2005.
Among the suspects are both Danish as well as non-Danish citizens. The group has been under surveillance by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service for months.
Jyllands-Posten‘s editor-in-chief, Carsten Juste, has made following statement:
“Deeply worried, the management at Jyllands-Posten has for several months followed the discrete efforts by the Danish Security and Intelligence Service to protect Kurt Westergaard from concrete murder threats. The arrests Tuesday morning have hopefully thwarted the murder plans. We sympathize with Kurt Westergaard and his family who are forced to live under unacceptable pressure. It is appalling that a man who to the best of his ability goes about his work, and carries it out in accordance with Danish law, the Danish media ethics and Danish media tradition is rewarded by demonization and threatened on his life. We are grateful to the Danish authorities for protecting our colleague competently and professionally.”
The cartoonist himself, Kurt Westergaard (age 73), adds:
“Of course I fear for my life when the Danish Security and Intelligence Service informs me of concrete plans by specific people to kill me. But I’ve turned fear into anger and resentment. It am angry that a perfectly normal, everyday activity, which I have done by the thousand, is being abused to set off such madness. I’ve attended to my work and I still do. For how long I am to live under police protection I cannot possibly know, but I think the consequences of the insane response to my cartoon will last for the rest of my life. It is sad indeed, but it has become a fact of my life. ”
Illustration: The most famous and emblematic Mohammed-cartoon was drawn by Kurt Westergaard. Mr. Westergaard wanted to point out how the Prophet is exploited to legitimize terrorism, but obviously many have seen the cartoon as a depiction of the Prophet himself as a terrorist.
New York Times: 3 Arrested in Plot to Kill Cartoonist