The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) has reported on a story that may otherwise have eluded American media: as Al-Jazeera and The Guardian both reported in late September, Jordanian left-wing writer and activist Nahed Hattar was assassinated while entering a courthouse to face blasphemy charges for a cartoon he posted on Facebook.

In the comic, God is depicted as taking orders from an ISIL agent cozily ensconced with two woman in Paradise. Hattar, part of Jordan’s 4% Christian minority, had intended the cartoon to criticize ISIL’s hypocrisy, but he subsequently deleted the offending piece and offered an apology in the face of Jordanian outrage.

[Full image available below.]

The international Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement in the wake of both Hattar’s killing and the government’s gag order concerning Hattar’s trial:

Nahed Hattar’s killing is a direct result of lack of commitment to freedom of expression by Jordanian authorities. We call on the government to bring the killer to justice and to change its approach to freedom of the press to foster openness and protection for critical voices.

In their own press statement, Hattar’s family held a similar view of the government’s complicity in his death:

Many fanatics wrote on social media calling for his killing and lynching, and the government did nothing against them.

At the same time, Jordanian State Minister for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson, Mohammad Momani, expressed the government’s condemnation of the killing:

[T]he government will respond with an iron fist against anyone who tries to use this crime to spread hate rhetoric in our society.

According to The Telegraph, authorities have the alleged shooter Riyad Ismail Abdullah under arrest pending his own trial: “The gunman is believed to have acted alone rather than as part of an organised group.”