Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy

Image by Lars Vilks published in Nerikes Allehanda adjacent to the editorial

The Lars Vilks Muhammad drawings controversy began in July 2007 with a series of drawings by Swedish artist Lars Vilks that depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a roundabout dog (a form of street installation in Sweden). Several art galleries in Sweden declined to show the drawings, citing security concerns and fear of violence. The controversy gained international attention after the Örebro-based regional newspaper Nerikes Allehanda published one of the drawings on 18 August as part of an editorial on self-censorship and freedom of religion.[1]

While several other leading Swedish newspapers had published the drawings already, this particular publication led to protests from Muslims in Sweden as well as official condemnations from several foreign governments including Islamic State of Iraq,[2] Iran,[3] Pakistan,[4] Afghanistan,[5] Egypt,[6] and Jordan,[7] as well as by the inter-governmental Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).[8] The controversy occurred about a year and a half after the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy in Denmark in early 2006.

  1. ^ Ströman, Lars (2007-08-18). "Rätten att förlöjliga en religion" (in Swedish). Nerikes Allehanda. Archived from the original on 2007-09-06. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
    English translation: Ströman, Lars (2007-08-28). "The right to ridicule a religion". Nerikes Allehanda. Archived from the original on 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  2. ^ "Al-Qaeda puts bounties on heads of Swedes". Agence France-Presse/The Local. 2007-09-15. Archived from the original on 2007-09-18. Retrieved 2007-09-15.
  3. ^ "Iran protests over Swedish Muhammad cartoon". Agence France-Presse. 2007-08-27. Archived from the original on 2007-08-29. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
  4. ^ "PAKISTAN CONDEMNS THE PUBLICATION OF OFFENSIVE SKETCH IN SWEDEN" (Press release). Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 2007-08-30. Archived from the original on 2007-09-04. Retrieved 2007-08-31.
  5. ^ Salahuddin, Sayed (2007-09-01). "Indignant Afghanistan slams Prophet Mohammad sketch". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2007-09-14. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  6. ^ Fouché, Gwladys (2007-09-03). "Egypt wades into Swedish cartoons row". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-09-09.
  7. ^ "Jordan condemns new Swedish Mohammed cartoon". Agence France-Presse. 2007-09-03. Retrieved 2007-09-09. [dead link‍]
  8. ^ "The Secretary General strongly condemned the publishing of blasphemous caricatures of Prophet Muhammad by Swedish artist" (Press release). Organisation of the Islamic Conference. 2007-08-30. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-09-09.