earthtimes.org- - A court has ruled today that the Danish newspaper, which published Prophet Muhammad cartoons, did not libel Muslims in any way. The cartoons, which were published by Jyllands-Posten, had triggered violent protests in the Muslim world even killing some 50 people.

The present case was brought by seven Danish Muslim organizations, which claimed that the paper had libeled Muslims, the world over by printing the images. One image, which caused a huge protest, was that of the Prophet with a bomb in his turban, obviously trying to portray Muslims as terrorists.
"Of course it cannot be excluded that the drawings offended some Muslims," the Aarhus court said in its ruling on Thursday. "But there is no sufficient reason to assume that the cartoons are or were intended to be insulting ... or put forward ideas that could hurt the standing of Muslims in society."

The cartoons unleashed a wave of violent protests that let 50 dead. Three Danish embassies were attacked and death threats issued against the cartoonists. The Danish court in its ruling also asked the seven organizations to pay the paper's legal expenses.

Jyllands-Posten editor Carsten Juste hailed the ruling. "Anything but a clear acquittal would have been a catastrophe for freedom of the press and the media's ability to fulfill its role in a democratic society," he said on the paper's Web site. "You can think what you want about the cartoons, but the newspaper's unassailable right to print them has been set by both the country's prosecutors and the court system."

The court said there were insufficient grounds for defamation since most of the cartoons did not have a religious subject. The Muslim groups have lodged an appeal against the ruling and say they will approach the Supreme Court if necessary.