French Court Rules In Favour Of Charlie Hebdo

Good news on the cartoon-jihad front.

Two Islamic groups tried to sue Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly newspaper, for publishing the dreaded motoons of blasphemy and supposedly "inciting hatred against Muslims". Fortunately, they lost the case.

BBC: [...] A French court has ruled in favour of weekly Charlie Hebdo, rejecting accusations by Islamic groups who said it incited hatred against Muslims.

The cartoons were covered by freedom of expression laws and were not an attack on Islam, but fundamentalists, it said.

The case was seen as an important test for freedom of expression in France.

Applause broke out in the courtroom at the announcement of the verdict, which ruled that the three cartoons published in February 2006 were not insulting to the Muslim community, the AFP news agency reports.

Editor Philippe Val had rejected the allegations, saying the cartoons were not an attack on Muslims, but on terrorists.

He said the ruling was a victory for secular French Muslims.

"This debate was necessary," he said.

The case had been brought by the Grand Mosque of Paris and the Union of French Islamic Organisations. [...]

Cartoon Jihad Continues

Charlie Hebdo, a French weekly newspaper, is being sued by two Islamic groups for publishing the dreaded motoons of blasphemy and hence "inciting hatred against Muslims".

Reuters: Danish cartoon row goes to French court next week

PARIS, (Reuters) - The row over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad will be replayed in a French court next week when two influential Islamic groups sue a Paris satirical weekly for inciting hatred against Muslims by printing the caricatures. The two Muslim associations aim to show that reprinting the cartoons was a provocation equal to anti-Semitic acts or Holocaust denial that are already banned under French law, Dalil Boubakeur, rector of the Paris Grand Mosque, said on Friday. The cartoons, originally published in 2005 in the Danish daily Jyllens-Posten (sic), provoked violent protests in Asia, Africa and the Middle East that left 50 people dead. Several European publications reprinted them as an affirmation of free speech. The weekly Charlie Hebdo, which put out a special edition with the cartoons, argued religions are not beyond criticism and letting Muslims censor the media would curtail a basic right. "Free speech is not the issue here. The issue is that, in France, racism is not an opinion, it is a crime," said Francis Szpiner, lawyer for the Grand Mosque, which has sued along with the Union of French Islamic Organisations (UOIF). "Two of those caricatures make a link between Muslims and Muslim terrorists. That has a name and it's called racism."

Here they go, playing the race card again. (Hint: Islam = not a race)

Also on LGF: The Cartoon Jihad's Legal Front

Update: Sarkozy is with Charlie Hebdo: "I prefer an excess of cartoons than the absence of cartoons".

Motoon Jihad Not Over

JPost via Clarity&Resolve:

Mosque of Paris sues weekly over prophet cartoons

The Mosque of Paris has filed suit against a satirical weekly for publishing three cartoons of Islam's prophet - two of which were among those published by a Danish newspaper that triggered violent protests five months ago, judicial officials said Friday.

The suit was filed against Philippe Val, executive editor of Charlie-Hebdo, a satirical magazine known for its caustic humor, and against the Rotatives publishing house for the cartoons, which appeared in a February edition.

The Mosque of Paris considers the publication of the cartoons to be "a deliberate act of aggression aimed at offending people of the Muslim religion in their attachment to their faith".