French Muslims file suit over cartoons

PARIS (UPI) --

Feb 6, 2007

Two French Muslim groups have filed a lawsuit against the magazine Charlie Hebdo over cartoons that satirized the prophet Mohammad.

In their lawsuit filed in a Paris court, the groups said the magazine "insulted people on the basis of religion," the BBC said Wednesday.

Charlie Hebdo reprinted Danish cartoons that provoked a violent backlash last year. In a show of support, the newspaper Liberation published the cartoons in its Wednesday edition.

The Union of French Islamic Organizations 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."

Observers said the case is being seen as a test of free speech and religious sensitivities in France.

The Liberation called the trial "idiotic," adding: "It is not words which wound, or pictures that kill. It is bombs."

The illustrations originally appeared in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in September 2005. In October, a Danish court rejected a case brought by several Muslim groups against the paper.