The European Union may try to draw up a media code of conduct to
avoid a repeat of the furore caused by the publication across
Europe of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad, an EU commissioner said
on Thursday.
In an interview with Britain's Daily Telegraph, EU
Justice and Security Commissioner Franco Frattini said the charter
would encourage the media to show "prudence" when covering
religion.
"The press will give the Muslim world the message: We are aware
of the consequences of exercising the right of free expression," he
told the newspaper. "We can and we are ready to self-regulate that
right."
The cartoons, which first appeared in a Danish newspaper last
September before being reprinted across Europe, sparked a wave of
protests around the world.
Newspapers which have published them say they are exercising
their right to freedom of speech, while critics say the cartoons
are deliberately offensive. Depicting the Prophet Mohammad is
prohibited by Islam.
Frattini, a former Italian foreign minister, said millions of
Muslims in Europe felt "humiliated" by the cartoons.
His proposed voluntary code would urge the media to respect all
religious sensibilities but would not offer privileged status to
any one faith.
The code would be drawn up by the European Commission, the EU
executive body, and European media outlets, he said. It would not
have legal status.
The EU's foreign policy chief Javier Solana is to travel to Arab
and Muslim countries in an attempt to calm the anger caused by the
cartoons.
(Chinadaily.com via agencies February 9, 2006)
