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Vienna/ Athens (pte037/03.03.2003/13:44) - Police in Greece are busy clearing a controversial comic book by Austrian caricaturist Gerhard Haderer from the shelves in bookstores.
The book portrays Jesus as a cool hippy, the Last Supper as a drinking binge and the late rock star Jimi Hendrix as a heavenly friend of God's only son.
"The Life of Jesus" by Austrian caricaturist Gerhard Haderer has sold over 100,000 copies in Austria and Germany since hitting the bookshops a year ago amid uproar from religious circles.
Now police in Orthodox Greece have confiscated the book, which the author says is supposed to be a "humorous" account of Christ's life. Legal action is also being taken against the Greek publishing house Oxy for publishing the book, against the translator and against Haderer himself for blasphemy.
It is the first time in over twenty years since a ban on a book has been placed in Greece. In contrast The Life of Jesus has been successfully published and sold in South Korea, France the Czech Republic and Hungary.
In reaction to the Greek authorities, Gerhard Haderer said: "Now we have really gone back to the Middle Ages."
He said the current occurrences in Greece were "amazing" and added, "it didn't even get that far" in Catholic Austria.
Haderer stressed: "My book is not an attack on religion or on believers. It is meant for believers to take a more light-hearted look at their faith and through humour become closer to God."
The author added that he had had enough of the threats being made to him and his book and said if they continued it could become a matter for the European Court of Human Rights.
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