subject: The French Govt Has Stated Individuals [print this page] France as well as other European countries there's a double normal when it comes to free speech.
The French govt has stated individuals who are offended by the caricatures can deal with the difficulty within a courtroom room.
At least one Muslim group has already reportedly filed a criminal complaint with prosecutors in Paris. Prosecutors have yet to decide if legal action will be taken.
Charlie Hebdo, the weekly magazine that published the cartoons, has previously won cases when it was taken to court for offending faith groups. Four years ago it won a case brought against it after it posted cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which had previously been printed within a Danish magazine.
An unsuccessful complaint was also brought against it following it caricatured the Pope in 2008.
Pierre Guerlain, from Paris West University in France, says the caricatures would need to be found racist for the complaint to succeed. Religious grounds, he says, won t suffice in France.
Criticizing religion can be a national sport, says Guerlain. People lexia pp2000 in the English-speaking world imagine that France is a Catholic country, but it is really a misconception. Most people are secular, agnostics or atheists. They don t have religious practices. And traditionally, the French Left built itself around opposition to your Catholic Church. So you will find a long anti-religious tradition in France, which carries on to other religions.
French authorities confirmed Friday that they have banned any protestors from demonstrating against the cartoons. The Interior Minister mentioned prefects throughout the country had obd2 spain been ordered to crack down if the ban is challenged.
Guerlain says such a move by the authorities undermines free speech values.
When you ban a demonstration in France, you always argue that there is a danger to public order, he says. So the argument is that it is not speech that is banned, but it s a deed, an action. But in the case of this demonstration, if you restrict avenues for self-expression, I
