The Northern African Kingdom of Morocco has denounced continued reprints of caricatures depicting Islamic prophet Mohammad by French media in tribute to brutally murdered French teacher and in the wake of increased Islamic threat, the country's Foreign Ministry has announced
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2020) The Northern African Kingdom of Morocco has denounced continued reprints of caricatures depicting Islamic prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by French media in tribute to brutally murdered French teacher and in the wake of increased Islamic threat, the country's Foreign Ministry has announced.
"Freedom of expression cannot, for any reason, justify the insulting provocation and the offense of the Muslim religion, which has more than two billion followers across the world. As much as it condemns all obscurantist and barbaric violence allegedly perpetrated in the name of islam [namely, the killing of the teacher], the Kingdom of Morocco stands up against these abusive provocations [republications of the caricature] of the sacredness of the Muslim religion," the foreign office said in a statement published late on Sunday.
Morocco also urged to stop fomenting discontent over Islam and pursue "a serene dialogue of religions", in clear reference to French President Emmanuel Macron's speech on October 21, when he stressed that France would continue to defend freedom of expression and combat radical Islamism.
French history teacher Samuel Paty was decapitated on October 16 in one of communes near Paris. The attacker, a radicalized teenager of Chechen origin, was eliminated by security troops the same night. The killing came after Paty showed cartoons on Mohammad to his students during lessons on freedom of speech.
The attack triggered national and international dismay, with French mass media republishing the cartoons in commemoration to deceased teacher as the victim of radical Islamism, and many of the media outlets subsequently getting death threats over the matter.
