Nov 14, 2007

Spanish cartoon editor fined for damaging the prestige of the crown"...

Spanish cartoons editor of the weekly magazine El Jueves was fined
3000 euros for publishing a cartoon of prince Filipe. The cartoon was funny:

Their offence was to have published a cartoon last July making ribald fun of the heir to the Spanish throne, and of the government's scheme to encourage women to have more babies by giving mothers a special payment for each new birth.

It was a caricature of Prince Filipe having sex with his wife, Princess Letizia, and telling her: "Do you realise that if you get pregnant, it will be the closest thing to work I've done in my life?"

The journalists were charged with "damaging the prestige of the crown"". It raises the issue of selective censorship in Europe, just last year Muslims around the world were protesting the publishing of cartoons insulting their prophet and Europeans (and Westerners) were saying threy were "surprised" that Muslims got angry. A case of double-standard, yet again, perhaps!.

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