LOS ANGELES: Michael Jackson fans have launched a campaign to prevent the broadcast of a re-enactment of the pop icon's autopsy on a TV show, calling it "an affront to human dignity". The Discovery Channel's controversial programme Michael Jackson's Autopsy, due to air on January 13 in UK, is said to be based on the official coroner's report and court documents taken after the superstar's death in June 2009.

The show will follow a pathologist as he performs a full autopsy on a synthetic cadaver and exposes the "medical myths that surrounded Jackson throughout his troubled life -his drug addiction, his vitiligo and other disorders".

The plans have infuriated the Thriller hitmaker's fans, which have launched a petition in a bid to stop the show from airing, reported TMZ.

Members of two Jackson campaign groups, MJ Justice Project and MJ Children, have united to urge other devotees to contact channel bosses to voice their displeasure about the show. They have already collected nearly 1,500 signatures.

"This type of sensational and unscrupulous reporting can only cause harm. We ask the directors of the Discovery Channel programming to proceed with the outright cancellation of this indecent documentary," the petition states.

Keywords: Michael Jackson, singer, drug addiction, human dignity, famous singer