Free Speech, Free Trade

In other news, independent newspapers in Azerbaijan, neighbor to Iran, have brought the free speech debate to a head there. There is a new cartoon war, apparently sparked by Iran. AzerNews:

Two Azeri newspapers have published cartoons of Iranian revolutionary leader Ayatollah Khomeini and the country's supreme clerical leader Ali Khamnei, in a move which drew fire from Iran. The move came amid a series of mass protests by ethnic Azeris throughout the neighboring country triggered by a publication of an insulting cartoon by state-owned newspaper Iran. The Caucasus Clerical Office condemned the latest caricature released by the independent Gun and Yeni Fakt newspapers. The papers will be taken to court, Sheikh Allahshukur Pashazada has said.

Fortunately Azerbaijan has some other outspoken advocates for free speech:

However, the chairman of the Central Asia and South Caucasus Freedom of Speech Network, Azer Hesret, said a criminal case launched into the case is unacceptable. "The Azerbaijani law enforcement should be in no haste. I would say this [incident] has to do more with journalistic ethics rather than criminal accountability. Otherwise, the Danish artist who recently drew the cartoons of Prohpet Muhammad would have been sentenced for life," Hesret said. The recent publication of cartoons depicting Prohpet Muhammad in a Danish newspaper had sparked off massive protests by Muslims throughout the world.

Azerbaijan is an oil-producing country on the Caspian Sea with a new pipeline to Turkish ports for export to the West, bypassing Iran and Russia. Story here from AP Business on US relationship. Map and country info.


And for solidarity with free speech advocates and Danish cartoonists, view Chicago Hitchens-inspired Rally Pix here and here.