One step forward, two steps back.  This is a common saying in the west that is used when a person or a group or a community does something which can only be regarded as so silly that it reverses progress made in other areas.  Pro-democracy organizers world-wide should all be doing a collective facepalm over news that a Jordanian court has begun a trial against Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard for his depictions of Mohammed in cartoon form.

In my last editorial I espoused the virtues of Jordan's acceptance of religious freedom and praised the good people of Jordan and the leadership of King Abdullah for accepting the public observance of Christian religious holidays.  With this latest news of a cartoonist being put on trial however, I can't help but feel this is an embarassing slap in the face for Jordan's image around the world.  I was surprised to learn that this trial would be held here.  To me it would make sense if it was held in Saudi Arabia or Qatar or even Egypt...but not in Jordan.

AMMAN (AFP) - A Jordanian court on Monday put on trial in absentia Danish artist Kurt Westergaard who is being sued in the kingdom for blasphemy over a controversial cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed.

"A court in Amman began today the trial in absentia of those who insulted the Prophet, including Westergaard and Danish newspapers which published his offensive cartoon," said Tareq Hawamdeh, lawyer for local journalists and activists who brought the suit.

"Judge Nathir Shehadeh adjourned the trial until May 8 to hear the witnesses," Hawamdeh said in a statement.

The court subpoenaed Westergaard on April 14 after accusing him of committing "the crime of blasphemy" for depicting the Prophet Mohammed with a bomb in his turban.

A Jordanian prosecutor summoned Westergaard for questioning that year after 30 independent newspapers, websites and radio stations in Jordan sued him in 2008 over the cartoon.  Three years ago, 17 Danish newspapers reprinted the controversial caricature, which was first published in 2005, sparking violent protests across the Muslim world, including Jordan.

Westergaard, 75, who has faced numerous death threats and assassination attempts, told AFP after the subpoena that "I have not heard about this trial and have not been informed.  In any case, I have no intention of going even if I am asked to," he said on Friday, pointing out that "I do not want to risk becoming familiar with the Jordanian prisons, which would be hell."

Jordanian MPs have demanded that the government sever ties with Denmark, and Amman has condemned the caricature, warning that it could spark further extremism and harm relations between Denmark and Muslim countries.

Ok, just to summarize:  Jordan (and the whole of the Middle East really) has been gripped by the fervor for democratic freedoms for months now.  Each week sees larger and larger protests around different areas of Jordan, and His Majesty has agreed that change needs to be made and will be made upon the completion of the National Dialogue Committee's study on the issue.

On that same note, Jordanian newspapers, blogs and radio stations have been clamoring for more freedom of the press for years and rail against any attempt by the government to curb what they see as their fundamental rights.  I have read countless articles in the past 5 years regarding what newspaper editors deem restrictions on their rights to print or air opposing viewpoints.

With that in mind,over 30 newspapers and radio stations sued this cartoonist, and Jordan then launches a state-sanctioned trial of a non-Jordanian, non-Muslim cartoonist because he penned cartoons that are offensive to Islam?  One of the basic building blocks of democracy is freedom of speech (and freedom of the press) and many of the same citizens that are protesting for more democratic freedoms also are lobbying for the restriction of free speech and press?

How can the Jordanian people justify these opposing stances?  In my estimation you either embrace democracy and the freedom of speech that is a prerequisite to a free society or you stop trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the rest of the world.

Why don't we just admit that many of those organizing for a more democratic form of government are actually lobbying for something totally different...the ability to impose their narrow political and or religious viewpoints on the Jordanian people, and they are disguising their true agenda within the wave of popular protests sweeping through the Middle East.