Steve Bell, the cartoonist responsible for a satirical drawing of the Danish PM Lars Løkke Rasmussen dressed as a Nazi, is surprised by the Danish response to his work, which has included a death threat, TV2 News reports.
Unanticipated reactions
“Some of the reactions have been very, very critical, and there has also been a death threat. Even though it was in very bad English, I could understand the sinister intentions,” Bell said.
The cartoon appeared in the British newspaper the Guardian on Wednesday, following the Danish parliament’s vote in favour of the controversial asylum law allowing for the confiscation of asylum seekers’ valuables and a three-year delay on family reunifications.
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According to Bell, the cartoon is intended to show disappointment at developments in Denmark.
“You have done it much better than the UK, and therefore it is disappointing that you take this step. It is more a symbol of disappointment than a charge of Nazism,” he said.
The cartoon has also evoked reactions among Danish politicians. Pia Kjærsgaard, the parliamentary chairman, who in 2006, during the Mohammed cartoon crisis, was an outspoken proponent of freedom of expression and adversary of self-censorship, has called for media to retract the cartoon and apologise for printing it.
