Gregorius Nekschot is the pseudonym of a controversial Dutch cartoonist who mocks political ideas about Dutch multicultural society and the behaviour of people with rigid religious or ideological views. Islam is frequently subject of his cartoons. Gregorius Nekschot publishes his cartoons and satire mostly on his own website. His cartoons are also available in print from one publisher. On May 13, 2008, the cartoonist was arrested and taken into custody for interrogation. He was released after 30 hours, but it was expected that he would be prosecuted for discriminatory speech, insulting certain groups in society on the basis of their race or beliefs and possibly also for the crime of inciting hatred. His arrest has caused much debate in the press and parliament in what has been coined The Affair by Trouw newspaper on May 24, 2008. Charges against him were eventually dropped in September 2010. In December 2011 he announced he would no longer publish cartoons. Pseudonym In an interview the cartoonist has given an explanation for his sombre name. With "Gregorius" he refers to Pope Gregory IX, who instituted the Papal Inquisition, and "Nekschot" means literally "shot in the neck," a method used, according to the cartoonist, by "fascists and communists to get rid of their opponents." Freedom of speech Theo van Gogh Gregorius Nekschot was an associate of filmmaker Theo van Gogh who was murdered in 2004 by a young, homegrown, Muslim fundamentalist by the name of Mohammed Bouyeri. Van Gogh supported Nekschot by including his cartoons on his website De Gezonde Roker (The Healthy Smoker). Both Van Gogh and Gregorius Nekschot criticized Islam's perceived unwillingness to adopt the Dutch value of tolerance. They defended their right to criticise, provoke and speak freely. Nekschot's two comic books Misselijke grappen (Sick jokes) are published by Uitgeverij Xtra in Amsterdam. The same company publishes Theo van Gogh's Allah weet het beter (Allah knows best). Blasphemy Following the murder of Theo van Gogh a debate arose in the Netherlands about the limits of freedom of speech. This debate became alive again with the Danish cartoon affair and the making of the controversial film Fitna in 2008 by Dutch MP Geert Wilders of the Party for Freedom (PVV). Justice minister Ernst Hirsch Ballin of the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party wished to revitalize a law on blasphemy and expand it with protecting non-religious philosophies of life. Since writer Gerard Reve was