Mais cartoons
Este cartoon foi publicado pelo jornal indonésio Rakyat Merdeka (curiosa palavra...), de pendor islamita segundo a notícia do News.com.au. Satirizados são Alexander Downer, ministro dos negócios estrangeiros australiano e o primeiro ministro John Howard ("I want Papua!! Alex! Try to make it happen!"). Eis o comentário de Downer:
"You can publish cartoons which are tasteless and grotesque, but you are free to do so, and Indonesia is a free and pluralistic society," he [Downer] said today.
"Obviously, there are standards of public taste which publications are measured against.
"I would have thought those cartoons, in our society, fell way below the standards of public taste. I think a lot of Australians would regard those kind of publications as very offensive.
"But they're free to be offensive in a magazine in Indonesia if they wish to be."
Australia's decision to grant visas to 42 of 43 Papuan asylum seekers has sparked outrage in Indonesia, with nationalists accusing Canberra of secretly plotting the province's breakaway from Jakarta's grasp.
They have likened the situation to the 1999 independence crisis in East Timor.
Se no seu comentário inicial, o ministro esteve bem, já discordo que sugira a outro governo que influencie a sua imprensa. Se há limites à decência, esses deverão ser os impostos pelos editores (de livre vontade) e são demonstrados pelos leitores do próprio jornal se decidirem não o comprar. Finalmente, o ministro australiano tem sempre a hipótese de processar o publisher do jornal, se entender que lhe é devido um reparo.