Reporters Without Borders has launched an appeal and a petition for the immediate release of six journalists thrown into prison in Yemen and Algeria for reprinting the pictures at the centre of the Muhammed cartoons controversy as part of informing their readers.

“Whatever one thinks of the cartoons or whether they should be published, it is absolutely unjustified to jail or prosecute journalists, threaten them with death or shut down newspapers for this reason,” the worldwide press freedom organisation said.

At least 11 journalists are being prosecuted in five countries and six have been imprisoned. Some face long prison sentences if convicted.

Two editors in Jordan have been charged with provocation and encouraging disorder. Four journalists have been jailed in Yemen and charged under article 103 of the press law, which bans publication of anything that “harms Islam, denigrates monotheistic religion or a humanitarian belief.” Reporters Without Borders calls for all criminal cases among these to be dropped.

In total, thirteen publications have been temporarily or permanently closed in Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Yemen, Malaysia and Indonesia for reprinting the cartoons.

A conference to discuss the cartoons crisis on 9 February in Paris stressed that nothing could justify the imprisonment of journalists. More than a dozen journalists, intellectuals and religious officials from Western and Arab/Muslim countries attended the meeting, organised by Reporters Without Borders and the Arab Commission for Human Rights, and appealed for calm and dialogue. A similar conference will be held in Cairo on 25 February.

All of the journalists in question have been jailed for simply doing their job and passing on news that made headlines around the world.

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