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Dutch cartoonist arrested, released for anti-Muslim cartoons
("EarthTimes," May 16, 2008)

Amsterdam - A Dutch internet cartoonist was arrested and then released again earlier this week on suspicion of publishing work that is discriminatory against Muslims and people of colour, Amsterdam police disclosed Friday. A police spokesman said the cartoonist's home was searched. The arrest took place Wednesday, but he was released a day later.

The spokesman could not confirm whether the cartoonist, who goes by the artistic name Nekschot - Dutch for "shot in the neck" - would be charged by the public prosecutor.

The arrest follows an investigation by the public prosecutor after imam Abdul Jabbar van de Ven, a well-known Dutch convert to Islam, filed a complaint about Nekschot's cartoons in 2005.

Nekchot publishes primarily on the internet. On his website he claimed he took refuge on the internet as his main platform because Dutch print media refused to publish his work.

His website divides his work over more than ten categories, including "science" and "modern life," but even in those categories most of his cartoons feature Muslims and coloured people.

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