Azeri newspaper chief editor to be jailed for insulting Islam

Baku, Azerbaijan - The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office ruled Thursday that the chief editor of a local newspaper be jailed for two months for insulting the Prophet Mohammed in a November 1 article.

Earlier, Western mass media reported that the article, titled "Europe and Us," in the small-circulation newspaper Senet, accused Islam of standing in the way of humanity's development and said that the Prophet Mohammed was responsible for all the misunderstandings concerning the Muslim religion.

Prosecutors said the article's author, Rafiq Tagi, will also be jailed for two months.

The Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's Office earlier said that the chief editor, Samir Sedagetoglu, and Tagi will be charged with inciting ethnic, racial or religious hatred through the mass media.

Sedagetoglu said he and his employees have received a number of phoned death threats, even after a televised apology to all who were offended by the article. He said he has asked prosecutors for protection.