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France cartoons lawsuit to begin Muslims sue over France cartoons
(about 8 hours later)
Two French Muslim organisations are suing the magazine Charlie Hebdo for printing cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. Two French Muslim groups have begun a lawsuit in a Paris court against magazine Charlie Hebdo over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad.
The Muslim groups charge the magazine with "insulting a group of people on the basis of religion". The groups say the magazine "insulted people on the basis of religion" in a case seen as a test of free speech.
Charlie Hebdo reprinted Danish cartoons that provoked a violent backlash in the Muslim world a year ago.Charlie Hebdo reprinted Danish cartoons that provoked a violent backlash in the Muslim world a year ago.
Supporters of the magazine, including some French Muslims, say the trial is a test case for free speech. The newspaper Liberation republished the cartoons on Wednesday in solidarity with the magazine.
The decision of Charlie Hebdo to publish the cartoons "was part of a considered plan of provocation aimed against the Islamic community in its most intimate faith," say the Union of French Islamic Organisations and the Paris Grand Mosque. But the Union of French Islamic Organisations and the Paris Grand Mosque said Charlie Hebdo's decision to publish the cartoons "was part of a considered plan of provocation aimed against the Islamic community in its most intimate faith".
It was "born out of a simplistic Islamophobia as well as purely commercial interests".It was "born out of a simplistic Islamophobia as well as purely commercial interests".
Muslims regard images of the Prophet Mohammed as blasphemous.
Global controversyGlobal controversy
The illustrations originally appeared in the best-selling Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005 to accompany an editorial criticising self-censorship in the Danish media.The illustrations originally appeared in the best-selling Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005 to accompany an editorial criticising self-censorship in the Danish media.
The trial is seen as a test of the boundaries of free speech in FranceOne image shows the Prophet Muhammad carrying a lit bomb in the shape of a turban on his head decorated with the Islamic creed.The trial is seen as a test of the boundaries of free speech in FranceOne image shows the Prophet Muhammad carrying a lit bomb in the shape of a turban on his head decorated with the Islamic creed.
Over the next few months they were reprinted in a number of French publications and elsewhere in Europe and around the world.Over the next few months they were reprinted in a number of French publications and elsewhere in Europe and around the world.
Reaction in the Muslim world built up in January and February of 2006 culminating in sometimes violent protests.Reaction in the Muslim world built up in January and February of 2006 culminating in sometimes violent protests.
The two-day trial, opening on Wednesday, is being seen as a test of the boundaries of free speech and religious sensitivities in France. The two-day trial is being seen as a test of the boundaries of free speech and religious sensitivities in France.
A group of French academics, including some Muslims, published an open letter in the magazine Liberation on Monday. In republishing the cartoons, Liberation called the trial "idiotic", adding: "It is not words which wound, or pictures that kill. It is bombs."
"Democrats the world over and especially Muslims hope to see in Europe, and above all in France, a secular haven where their words are not blocked by dictators or fundamentalists. A television debate between Charlie Hebdo publisher Philippe Val and Paris Grand Mosque rector Dalil Boubakeur proved an acrimonious affair.
"If Charlie Hebdo were to be convicted ... we would all lose this shared space of resistance and liberty," the letter said. Mr Boubakeur said the cartoons insulted all Muslims by suggesting they were all terrorists.
Mr Val said: "If we can't criticise religion anymore, there will be no women's rights, no birth control and no gay rights."
In October, a Danish court rejected a libel case brought by several Muslim groups against the Jyllands-Posten.
The court in Aarhus said there was not enough reason to believe the cartoons were meant to be insulting or harmful.