The right to media freedom is not limitless, and those who hold it must exercise it properly. Some who value free speech as a means to secure a peaceful society must guarantee that this is not exploited by extremists to ridicule, imply, or marginalize others. Instead of extending the critical space for discussion of religion, freedom of speech has been exploited carelessly to support hate-mongering. Such rash use of prized freedom would confuse an already difficult conversation.
When it comes to free speech, Denmark takes the lead, which some consider the core of basic liberties.
In 2005, the nation also generated a conflict when the Danish released several cartoons portraying the Prophet Muhammad. Muslims all over the globe were offended by the drawings, but Danish officials decided to act in the name of free speech. You don’t interfere with freedom of expression in Denmark.
However, it seems that these liberties are conditional. An immigration petition from a Moroccan graphic designer and YouTuber, who has faced threats from Moroccan internet users for years, was repeatedly denied by a ministry that previously fought solely to protect Muhammad cartoonists.
Crabman is Abdelali Achahbi, a 35-year-old Moroccan with a fine arts degree, programming skills, and animations from Sales, north of Rabat. He has been in Denmark for the last 12 years, and his 3D animated video on Morocco’s political crisis, civil rights, and the Alawite king have garnered him a sizable social media following.
His nation has labeled him a “traitor”.
His work is amusing, technically excellent, and often adventurous, yet it is neither vulgar nor libelous in any manner.
As a result, Achahbi has focused on a slander campaign waged by Moroccan government authorities for years. He’s been accused of being a “traitor” to his country, a follower of “Sahrawi separatists,” and even a homosexual, the greatest humiliation and offence among devout Muslim Moroccans.
In Morocco, however, such persecution is commonplace when interacting with dissenters. It should be a very different scenario in a nation like Denmark, which claims itself to be ruled by the legal system. For the sake of freedom of speech, the Danish government defends its journalists and cartoonists. The same rules should bind immigrants to Denmark to avoid persecution.
But this doesn’t: Danish officials recently informed Crabman that he either moved out of the country or faced being forcefully ejected. Surprisingly, the place they’ve picked for him is Morocco, where he fears arrest, jail, and punishment for demonizing King Mohammed VI. Denmark’s right to free speech seems to be reserved for Westerners only, not for oppressed minorities from other nations.
Arrested for posting on Facebook/Social Media
As per media accounts, Moroccan Achahbi was married to a Danish lady and the dad of a two-year-old daughter. The Refugees Commission has consistently refused to support his asylum seeker, claiming that his actions on social networks pose a danger to the Moroccan state. Some Moroccan YouTubers are arrested for criticizing Mohammed VI’s administration.
More evidence has emerged that terrorists want to use the rallies as a tool to widen the gap between Muslim and Western communities and to convert intellectual and cultural disagreements into a theological showdown.
