The French satirical magazine Charlie-Hebdo is, I read today in Le Monde, on trial in the Tribunal Correctionel in Paris (which is like an informal version of our Crown Court; or else a turbo-charged Magistrates’ Court, whichever way you want to look at it). The charge is “publicly insulting a group on religious grounds”, based on the magazine’s publication of the notorious “Danish cartoons” showing the prophet Muhammad. It’s a private prosecution brought by Paris Central Mosque, the Union of French Islamic Organisations and the World Islamique League.

I have to say I think the prosecution is an absolute http://www.gooakley.com/ scandal, and in my view probably breaches the Article 10 right to freedom of expression.

I notice that Nicolas Sarkozy has written to the magazine expressing his support – an interesting political move given he’s campaigning to be President of France.

Of course in this country, if the Attorney General objected to a prosecution like this, he could take it over and discontinue it. Which is a good example of why it’s actually right to have someone entitled to make political judgments in overall charge of public prosecutions. If the French National Assembly is outaged by this case (as it ****** well ought to be), who will it summon and give a roasting to?

2017-03-18T04:15:58+00:00Tags: , , |