The theme for this year’s M100 award ceremony, to be held tonight in Potsdam in eastern Germany, is ‘Freedom of the Press in Europe’. According to Potsdam mayor Jann Jakobs, Westergaard is ‘a person who has become a symbol for freedom of expression and of the press’.
Westergaard has become internationally well known as the artist who depicted Mohammed wearing a bomb in his turban for a 12-drawing series commissioned by Jyllands-Posten.
The keynote speaker for the evening’s ceremonies will be German chancellor Angela Merkel.
M100’s decision to award Westergaard its prize is in sharp contrast to the decision made earlier this year by German national television station ZDF, which cancelled a scheduled interview with the artist for what it said were security reasons.
The Copenhagen Post
