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Europe
French court to rule on Mo cartoons
2007-03-22
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 widen a cultural gap slow their surrender and Dhimmitude.
Posted by:Icerigger

#2  The Times says the ruling was that the cartoons were not insulting to Muslims. link

The court ruled that two of the cartoons were absolutely not offensive to Muslims. One, reprinted from DenmarkÂ’s Jyllands-Posten, showed the prophet standing on a cloud, turning away suicide bombers from paradise with the caption 'Stop, stop, we ran out of virgins'.

The second, by the French cartoonist Cabu, showed Muhammad sobbing, holding his head in his hands and saying:“It is hard to be loved by fools”, under the caption 'Muhammad overwhelmed by fundamentalists".

On the third cartoon - showing Muhammad wearing a turban shaped as a bomb, and first printed in Jyllands-Posten - the courtÂ’s ruling was more nuanced.

The court decided that the caricature could potentially be insulting to Muslims but that the context of its publication in Charlie Hebdo made clear there was no intention to offend.

The trial was seen as an important test for freedom of expression in France and large crowds crammed into the Paris courtroom during hearings last month to hear the arguments put by both sides. Applause broke out in the courtroom at the announcement of the verdict.

Candidates in next monthÂ’s French presidential election also lined up during the trial to defend their ideas about religion and freedom of expression, while a group of 50 intellectuals including many French Muslims published an open letter urging support for Charlie Hebdo.

The editors of Jyllands-Posten were acquitted in October of any wrongdoing in a separate case in a Danish court and very few of the dozens of newspapers worldwide that reprinted the cartoons have faced legal action.
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-03-22 17:27  

#1  from Yahoo News:
PARIS - A French court cleared a satirical weekly newspaper Thursday in a case brought by Muslims who were angered by its publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

The newspaper Charlie-Hebdo and its director, Philippe Val, were accused of "publicly abusing a group of people because of their religion." Val had risked a six-month prison sentence and a fine of up to $29,250.

The court ruled that Charlie-Hebdo showed no intention of insulting the Muslim community with the caricatures, several of which appeared first in a Danish paper and sparked angry protests across the Muslim world and in Europe.

The case drew massive attention from politicians and the media in France, which has western Europe's largest Muslim population — 5 million people — and a deep commitment to secularism and free speech.

Val said the ruling was a victory for believers in freedom of expression, and for secular French Muslims."

... rest at Yahoo
Posted by: Thinemp Whimble   2007-03-22 12:04  

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