A Jordanian court has now opened its case against a Danish cartoonist and 19 other Danish journalists and newspapers on charges of blasphemy for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed six years ago, according to arabnews.com.

None of those charged appeared in court when the case began Monday, which resulted in Judge Nathir Shahadah declaring they were to be tried in absentia, and with the first regular court session to be heard on May 8.

The charges have been brought by a coalition of Jordanian academics, lawmakers, unionists, journalists, lawyers and politicians.

Arabnews.com writes that the charges have been brought because Westergaard published 12 cartoons of the Prophet in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on Sept. 30, 2005, "inciting outrage in the Muslim world as well as a boycott of Danish products.”

The report says the charges have been approved by the Jordanian public prosecutor and include blasphemy against the Prophet and humiliation of Islam and Muslims.