Copenhagen, Denmark - Denmark's top prosecutor said Wednesday he will not press charges against the newspaper that first published the Prophet Muhammad cartoons that triggered angry protests from Muslims worldwide.
The Foreign Ministry warned the decision could spark "negative reactions" against Danes and warned citizens to be cautious when traveling in Muslim countries.
Director of Public Prosecutions Henning Fode upheld the decision of a regional prosecutor who ruled the drawings published in Jyllands-Posten Sept. 30 did not violate Danish law. Fode's decision cannot be appealed.
His ruling said the 12 cartoons, one of which shows the prophet wearing a turban shaped like a bomb, did not violate bans on racist and blasphemous speech.
"My decision is that there is no violation of the said rules of the Danish Criminal Code," Fode said in a statement.
A regional prosecutor said Jan. 7 that the drawings were protected by Denmark's freedom of speech.
Fode's office said it had received several appeals by organizations and individuals unhappy with the regional prosecutor's decision.
One of those groups, the Islamic Faith Community, said it was disappointed in Fode's ruling and would consider raising the issue with The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France.
"This can only damage Denmark on an international level," Kasem Said, a spokesman for the group, said of the ruling.
The community is part of network of 27 Danish Islamic organizations that turned to Muslim countries for help in the conflict. Many Danes blame them for escalating the crisis.
The cartoons, which were reprinted in European papers in January and February — sparked a wave of protests around the Arab and Islamic world. Some turned violent, with protesters killed in Libya and Afghanistan and several European embassies attacked.
A boycott on Danish goods started in Saudi Arabia on Jan. 26 and spread to dozens of Muslim countries.
The cartoons were seen as an insult to Muhammad, depicting him as violent and primitive. Sunni Muslim tradition bans any image of the prophet, since depicting him risks insulting him or encouraging idolatry.
In his ruling, Fode noted that there was "no free and unrestricted right to express opinions about religious subjects" in Denmark. He said Jyllands-Posten had thus been wrong in writing that religious groups had to be ready to put up with "scorn, mockery and ridicule."
He said the cartoon showing Muhammad wearing a turban shaped like a bomb "may with good reason be understood as an affront and insult to the Prophet who is an ideal for believing Muslims."
"However, such a depiction is not an expression of mockery or ridicule, and hardly scorn within the meaning of section 140 of the Danish Criminal Code," Fode said.
The paper has apologized for offending Muslims but stands by its decision to publish the cartoons, citing the freedom of speech.
Jyllands-Posten editor-in-chief Carsten Juste called the ruling "satisfactory."
"I hope that all critical Muslims read the ruling in full, because it states very clearly what freedom of expression in Denmark is about," Juste told The Associated Press.
The prosecutor's ruling prompted the Foreign Ministry to upgrade its travel warnings for Muslim countries from Algeria to Malaysia.
"The decision may cause negative reactions to Danes and Danish interests abroad," the ministry said. "With that background, Danes should be particularly cautious when traveling."