The controversy stirred up by the publication of the Jyllands Posten Mohammed cartoons in Denmark is still creating problems. Recently I mentioned how the Clare College magazine Clareification landed itself in trouble after a satirical issue on religion which included one of the Danish cartoons backfired badly, leading to the magazine being denied funding by the college (effectively censorship by money), a call for a college court of discipline (very unusual) and the guest editor having to go into hiding. Now Index on Censorship reports that the editor and guest editor were questioned by Cambridgeshire police and a file has been passed to the Crown Prosecution Service which will decide if there is a case to press charges.
While the editors may have been pretty misguided or naive not to realise they would stir up a hornet’s nest with this issue I don’t recall satire being an illegal act in Britain, so just why such heavy handed action by the authorities? Regardless of the wisdom of publishing what they did and regardless of if you agree or disagree with them, surely they have as much right to publish a satirical take on any religion as a religious person does to freely practise their faith? And would the police be involved if the paper had satirised only Christianity? According to Index the police interviewed them under ‘Section 5 of the Public Order Act (“harassment, alarm or distress”)’, which frankly sounds a bit like the local plod just went looking for something they could use over the editors. Obviously there is so little crime in Cambridge the police need to find things to keep themselves occupied and overseeing student magazines seems to be it right now. I wonder if they will interview some prominent politicians under the same law for their controversial statements recently on the wearing of the veil by Islamic women?
March 16th, 2007 at 8:29 am
The report notes that “a file has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service, which will decide whether to press charges against the students in the coming weeks.