Charges Dropped Against Charlie Hebdo
The prosecution in France’s Muhammad cartoons trial has dropped all charges against Charlie Hebdo magazine, which republished the Jyllands-Posten cartoons along with some of its own - including a cover picture of Muhammad saying “It’s tough being loved by idiots.”
Charlie Hebdo was prosecuted for inciting hatred but the trial brought a huge backlash from the defenders of free speech and the prosecution has asked that the magazine be cleared of all charges.
“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.” During the cartoon controversy, offended Muslims demanded an apology and a ban on criticising Islam.
President Jacques Chirac accused Charlie Hebdo of willfully provoking Muslims.
On the side of Charlie Hebdo was an array of philosphers, intellectuals, and politicians:
Even [Interior Minister Nicolas] Sarkozy defended Charlie Hebdo, which typically portrays him as a nightstick-swinging policeman or a rabid pitbull terrier. But Sarkozy - stumping this year as a candidate for president from the conservative UMP party - characterized himself as a critic of “every form of censorship” in a written statement to the court. Sarkozy argued it was better to have “too many cartoons” than “no cartoons” and defended the “right to smile.”
Hat tip: Foreign Policy.
