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Muslims sue over France cartoons | |
(about 8 hours later) | |
Two French Muslim groups have begun a lawsuit in a Paris court against magazine Charlie Hebdo over cartoons satirising the Prophet Muhammad. | |
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. |
The newspaper Liberation republished the cartoons on Wednesday in solidarity with the magazine. | |
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 controversy | Global 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 is being seen as a test of the boundaries of free speech and religious sensitivities in France. | |
In republishing the cartoons, Liberation called the trial "idiotic", adding: "It is not words which wound, or pictures that kill. It is bombs." | |
A television debate between Charlie Hebdo publisher Philippe Val and Paris Grand Mosque rector Dalil Boubakeur proved an acrimonious affair. | |
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. |