Toons on Trial

A French satirical newspaper, Charlie-Hebdo, is on trial for publishing the Danish cartoons:

Opening arguments began Wednesday in a defamation trial against a French satirical weekly that reprinted caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed last year, stoking outrage and violence across the Muslim world.

Charlie-Hebdo magazine and the publication's director, Philippe Val, are charged with "publicly slandering a group of people because of their religion."

If convicted, the charge carries a possible six-month prison sentence and a fine of up to $28,530.

The Paris Mosque and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France brought the charges.

The caricatures, one of which showed Mohammed with a bomb-shaped turban, were published first in a Danish paper in September 2005, and sparked angry protests across the Muslim world and in Europe. Many European papers later reprinted them in the name of media freedom.

France's Charlie-Hebdo ran the drawings last February. The magazine featured a cover page showing Mohammed with his head in his hands, crying and saying: "It's hard to be loved by idiots."

The verdict will tell us whether France still has anything resembling a spine. Cheers to conservative Presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy for defending Charlie-Hebdo's right to publish the cartoons, and the leftist newspaper Liberation for running the offending drawings itself in solidarity. Jeers to the BBC for its continued refusal to show what the fuss is about.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at February 7, 2007 02:17 PM