Pakistan high court asked to force Muhammad cartoons referral to ICJ News
Pakistan high court asked to force Muhammad cartoons referral to ICJ

[JURIST] The Supreme Court of Pakistan [official website] has been petitioned to force the country's government to bring an action in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) [official website] against countries where cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad [JURIST news archive] have been published. A Pakistani lawyer filed the petition Tuesday, arguing that the government had failed to meet its duty of referring the case to the ICJ. The petition also called for Pakistan [JURIST news archive] to withdraw its diplomats from countries where the cartoons were published. Protestors in Karachi on Tuesday also called for the country to sever diplomatic ties with offending European countries.

Violent protests in Pakistan in response to the cartoons left three dead [JURIST report] Wednesday. The cartoons were originally printed by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten [media website] in September, but they have since been republished by other European and overseas media. From Pakistan, Dawn has local coverage.