Prophet Muhammad Cartoons - Muslim Groups Sue French Newspaper.

Two Muslim organizations took their lawsuit against a satirical newspaper to a Paris court Wednesday, for reprinting cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that touched off rioting around the world. The case has stirred controversy in a country where separation of church and state is considered a fundamental tenet of French identity.

The Paris Mosque and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France contend that Charlie Hebdo and its director, Philippe Val, are guilty of slandering a group of people because of their religion, an offense in France that carries a possible six-month sentence and fine of €22,500, or $29,300.

"If we can no longer laugh at the terrorists, what weapon is left for the citizen?" Val said at a hearing for the lawsuit, The Associated Press reported. "These drawings are about ideas, not men, about ideas defended by men who commit violent acts."

In its edition of Feb. 8, 2006, Charlie Hebdo republished 12 drawings that appeared the previous December in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. Two of the drawings are cited in the suit — one depicting the Prophet Muhammad greeting suicide bombers in heaven with the caption, "Stop, stop, we have run out of virgins," and one of him wearing a turban shaped like a bomb.

Outcry over the cartoons in the Muslim world led to protests in which at least 50 people died. Other European publications also reprinted the cartoons.

In the court Wednesday, a lawyer for the newspaper read a letter of support from Nicolas Sarkozy, the French interior minister and the leading conservative presidential candidate. Sarkozy, whose office said that he had written the letter as a presidential candidate and not as a cabinet minister, said he "preferred an excess of caricature to a lack of caricature." A national Muslim group called an emergency meeting Wednesday afternoon to discuss the letter.

Another presidential candidate, François Bayrou, and the Socialist Party leader, François Hollande, have been called by the defense to testify. Hearings are to continue Thursday, when the date of the verdict will be announced. (IHT)
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