Cartoon Protest Held in Marneuli

About 1000 local residents rallied on February 8 in Marneuli, a town in the Kvemo Kartli region with a predominantly ethnic Azerbaijani population, to protest cartoons satirizing the Muslim Prophet Muhammad, which have been reproduced in a number of European newspapers.

The cartoons themselves have not been reprinted in any of the Georgian newspapers. On February 3 the daily 24 Saati (24 Hours) published a photo of the French newspaper France Soir’s newsroom. An issue of France Soir was also seen in the photo.