Iranian Editor Enraged by Danish Newspaper Ad

[Gatekeeper]

Freedom of the press in Iran, huh? Yeah, I'll keep that in mind the next time *another* news outfit gets shut down for not toeing the political line.

[Dr Strangelove]

You know I wouldn't call him a swine. We generally associate pigs with sloppiness, greed, and / or gluttony, none of which really describe this guy. Vulture or snake would be more fitting.

[Winston]

I suppose it's to be perceived as a kind of synonym for "bastard", the way in which the direct translation of "swine" is most widely used in Danish. Could be reflecting a rather poor command of the English language on the part of the group, as one poster already noted.

They paid €2,100 for the ad. They state as their goal to ridicule 20 "top world leaders" in different ways, culminating in an exhibition on the different happenings in the fall of 2007 in Copenhagen. They've previously operated in a similar fashion in Afghanistan, Belarus, Serbia and Turkey, among others. In Bosnia, they put stickers everywhere in Sarajevo, addressing wanted war criminal Radko Mladic and taunting him by statements such as "We know where you are" and "We know when you have sex". Iran was obviously too dangerous for them to protest anything in person, so they placed this ad instead.

Most of what I've read about them sounds rather lame actually. But I have to tip my hat to them for this latest stunt of theirs.