Singapore’s government on Monday banned a book on censorship over offensive images containing controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and his progeny.
The book, “Red Lines: Political Cartoons and the Struggle Against Censorship,” was deemed “objectionable” by the city-state’s Infocom Media Development Authority (IMDA), as it “contains offensive images that denigrate religions.”
“The offensive Charlie Hebdo cartoons first appeared in 2006 and have been widely labeled as irresponsible, reckless and racist,” it said in a statement.
Terrorists killed 12 employees of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in 2015, following the publication of the images in the newspaper. After French President Emmanuel Macron last year defended the right to publish cartoons, angry protests broke out in Asia and the Middle East.
The book also contained denigratory references to Hinduism and Christianity, the IMDA said. Anyone convicted of importing, selling, distributing, making or reproducing an objectionable publication will face a fine of up to 5,000 Singaporean dollars (US$3,700, €3,193), imprisonment of up to a year, or both. The regulator said the references violated the 1967 Undesirable Publications Act.
