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French court to rule on Mo cartoons
 PARIS (AP) A French court was expected to rule Thursday on a court case brought by French Muslims against a satirical newspaper that printed caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Charlie-Hebdo, a weekly, and its director, Philippe Val, are charged with "publicly abusing a group of people because of their religion." Val risks a six-month prison sentence and a fine of up to euro22,000 (US$29,250).The case was being closely followed in a country with Europe's largest Muslim community and a strong commitment to secularism and free speech. At the trial in February, the defense read a letter of support from Interior Minister and presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy, who said he preferred "an excess of caricatures to an absence of caricatures." Sounds about right unless you work for the American MSM A state attorney has called for the dismissal of the case, saying the cartoons denounced terrorists' use of the Muslim faith but did not damage Islam. Damage the reputation of a terrorist manifesto takes more effort that drawings. The case against Charlie-Hebdo was brought by the conservative Mosque of Paris and the fundamentalist Union of Islamic Organizations of France. Attorneys for the Mosque of Paris denounced the mixing of religious and terrorist themes. But favored burning Paris, something even the Nazis didn't do In September, a Danish court rejected a lawsuit against the newspaper that first printed the cartoons a verdict some Arab politicians and intellectuals warned would Posted by: Icerigger 2007-03-22 |
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