A group of French lawyers are currently studying the possibility of filing a lawsuit against Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard in support of the “Messenger of Allah Unites Us” campaign.
Osama Bitar, a lawyer with the campaign, said on Saturday that French lawyers have expressed their support for the campaign and its lawsuit against Westergaard, who drew inflammatory caricatures seen as insulting to the Prophet Mohammad.
“The lawyers are studying the possibility of filing a lawsuit against the cartoonist in accordance with French and international law such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Bitar, who returned from a weeklong visit to Paris on Friday, told The Jordan Times.
The French lawyers in question said they are also considering contacting colleagues in other European countries to support the campaign and file separate lawsuits against Westergaard, according to Bitar.
“The idea of European lawyers joining us in the campaign and supporting our efforts is tremendous. We are defending Islam in a civilised way and are trying to hold those responsible for the caricatures accountable according to the law,” Bitar stressed.
The 73-year-old Danish cartoonist said last week he will not appear before a court in Amman even if he receives an official notification, citing “hate remarks” by campaign organisers and insisting that he only was “doing his job.”
Westergaard was subpoenaed by the Amman prosecutor general in early June along with several Danish journalists and editors involved in the republication of the caricatures, which spurred worldwide protests among Muslims.