Athens, Greece - A Greek court on Wednesday has lifted a ban on selling a cartoon book from Austria depicting Jesus Christ as a drinking buddy of Jimi Hendrix and a marijuana-smoking, naked surfer.
Austrian cartoonist Gerhard Haderer had been found guilty by a Greek court of "malicious public blasphemy" earlier this year and given a six-month suspended prison sentence for his take on the life of Christ.
But the Athens appeals court ruled the book was not "blasphemous" and overturned Haderer's conviction, his lawyer Maria Marazioti told Reuters.
"We have won. The book is no longer banned, Haderer is free and the book can now go on sale legally," she said. "This is a wonderful decision."
Haderer, who did not appear in court, had not yet been informed of the ruling, Marazioti said. "I have been trying to reach him to tell him the good news."
The book, which is a playful look at Jesus, had briefly gone on sale in Greece in 2002, but days after four book stores in the capital had displayed it, the Greek Orthodox Church succeeded in having it withdrawn through a provisional court order.
The Church said at the time the comic book was making a mockery of the Christian Orthodox faith and of Jesus Christ.
"This should never have happened if we were living in a real democratic society," said Athina Kouri of the book's Greek publishers Oxy. "Our position is that there should be no obstacle to the freedom of speech."
"The Life of Jesus" has so far been translated into 10 languages.
Dozens of top Greek cartoonists have backed their colleague, saying the earlier court decision harmed the image of their country.
A 1,000-signature petition, signed by international artists, including 2004 Nobel Literature Prize winner Elfriede Jelinek, demanded the immediate lifting of the ban.