After Attack, Swedish Cartoonist in Hiding
Militant Islamists continue their attacks on cartoonists that dare draw the image of Muhammad. Since 2010, Swedish police have protected cartoonist Lars Vilks after he drew the death threats for depicting Muhammad as a dog. When he spoke at a Copenhagen café about free speech, an Islamist opened fire, killing two and wounding five. Vilks survived, and he’s now in hiding. “I am at a secret place, totally unknown,” the cartoonist told Channel 4 News. “I can’t give you countries or one place. I can only just say that I will remain here until we have a more clear picture of how things are looking and hopefully I will go back into a bit more normal routines within a few days or a week or so. I have become some sort of symbol because I’m pointed out as a kind of target and that target is then attacked. But there is this kind of symbol that is chosen for this purpose and the idea about freedom of speech or the attack on it.” In order for Vilks to speak freely, he must hide. And that, folks, is the state of free speech in Europe. More…