Lars Vilks has indeed gone into hiding now, which is tragic. I’m relieved, though, that he says it’s probably temporary.

Lars Vilks, the controversial cartoonist who escaped unhurt from the café hosting the debate, told Channel 4 News he is now in hiding.

“I am at a secret place, totally unknown. I can’t give you countries or one place. I can only just say that I will remain here until we have a more clear picture of how things are looking and hopefully I will go back into a bit more normal routines within a few days or a week or so.”

By the way Channel 4 News? He’s not really “controversial” – not to reasonable people he’s not.

“I have become some sort of symbol because I’m pointed out as a kind of target and that target is then attacked. But there is this kind of symbol that is chosen for this purpose and the idea about freedom of speech or the attack on it.”

Exactly. It’s not that he is himself especially “controversial”; it’s that a small number of people have singled him out for the label and all that goes with it. We can’t let them set the terms of the discussion. They’re the wrong people to do it. They don’t think well, and they don’t have the interests of human beings in mind.

The Swedish artist produced a series of caricatures of the prophet Mohammed in 2007, but says he feels no guilt after one man was killed in the attack on Saturday.

“We have a murder who was [in] cold blood sinking another person. And that’s the deed. That is his reason.

“It would be like saying that when he attacked the Jews: if they were not in Copenhagen then we wouldn’t have the problem. It’s a kind of stupid logic.”

It is indeed. He did nothing wrong. Nothing. No, not a little tiny bit wrong; not wrong at all. Jews did nothing wrong by living in Copenhagen and going to a synagogue, and Lars did nothing wrong by drawing cartoons.

I hope he can get back to mostly-normal life very soon.