Jyllands-Posten journalist to Belsat: Risk of terrorist attack in Denmark still high


Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten was the first to publish cartoons of the prophet Mohammad. Well ahead of Charlie Hebdo tragedy Islamists threatened its authors with death. Belsat TV correspondent Nastassia Jaumen met with Danish journalist Kaare Sørensen who described his work for the newspaper that once became target No 1 for terrorists.

“It’s a very special situation. I think you should be very mindful about what you do, you should respect the security that are in place,” Kaare Sørensen said. 

The Charlie Hebdo massacre showed that people ready to make an attack to revenge cartoon still exist, Kaare Sørensen stressed. “Danish authorities and security say the risk of attack is still high,” he added.

Should we defend the freedom of speech or should we refrain from ‘provoking’ Muslims?

“I am one of those who really don’t take a stand in this discussion. It is difficult one. We have freedom of speech. We need to make sure that we will maintain the freedom of speech in every sense and at the same time – everybody needs to behave well. But you then draw the line on what you can draw, on what you can say .. you can say well, you can’t publish cartoons right now but what will we say in 10 years? You can’t swear, you can’t make fun of queen and queen. We have a queen in Denmark and it’s a big tradition in Denmark to make fun of her, as well as we make fun of Prime Minister, soccer players, actors and ourselves.”

www.belsat.eu/en

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