 Editors of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo went to court on Wednesday for publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) that outraged Muslims worldwide.
| Two influential groups – the Paris Grand Mosque and the Union of Islamic Organisations of France – are suing Charlie Hebdo for re-printing in February of last year cartoons that appeared in the Danish Jyllands-Posten. |
Two influential groups – the Paris Grand Mosque and the Union of Islamic Organisations of France – are suing Charlie Hebdo for re-printing in February of last year cartoons that appeared in the Danish Jyllands-Posten. The weekly is also being sued for publishing a third drawing by French cartoonist Cabu.
The closely-watched case is seen as a test of the limits of freedom of expression in France.
In a show of solidarity with Charlie Hebdo, the leftist daily Liberation carried the cartoons that landed the weekly in court in its Wednesday edition. | “In the land of Voltaire, we have the right to criticise religion,” Liberation said in its editorial. |
“In the land of Voltaire, we have the right to criticise religion,” Liberation said in its editorial. The weekly is to answer a complaint of “publicly offending a group of persons on the basis of their religion” during the hearings that are expected to last two days in a Paris criminal court.
Other than the French drawing, Charlie Hebdo re-printed two drawings that first appeared in the Danish newspaper in September 2005, triggering a wave of mass protests in the Muslim world.
| The two plaintiffs argue that the cartoons draw an offensive link between Islam and terrorism, and are demanding 30,000 euros ($38,750) in damages. |
The two plaintiffs argue that the cartoons draw an offensive link between Islam and terrorism, and are demanding 30,000 euros ($38,750) in damages. They also want Charlie Hebdo to publish the ruling if it comes down in their favour on the front page of the weekly. The decision to print the cartoons “was part of a considered plan of provocation aimed against the Islamic community in its most intimate faith, born out of a simplistic Islamophobia as well as purely commercial interests,” according to the plea before the court. Some 15 witnesses have been asked to make depositions on behalf of Charlie Hebdo, including exiled Bangledeshi writer Taslima Nasreen. A group of 50 intellectuals including many French Muslims published an open letter on Monday urging support for Charlie Hebdo, and describing the trial as a test case for free speech. |