[CNN]
Free speech or incitement? French mag runs cartoons of Prophet Mohammed -
CNN.com
By Jim Bittermann, Pierre Meilhan and Holly Yan , CNN
September 19, 2012 -- Updated 1110 GMT (1910 HKT)
CNN.com
Paris (CNN) -- After a week of deadly, international protests against an
anti-Islam film, a French satirical magazine is fueling the debate between
freedom of expression and offensive provocation.
The magazine Charlie Hebdo published cartoons featuring a figure resembling the
Prophet Mohammed in an issue that hit newsstands Wednesday.
Magazine director Stephane Charbonnier said his staff is "not really fueling
the fire," but rather using its freedom of expression "to comment (on) the news
in a satirical way."
"It happens that the news this week is Mohammed and this lousy film, so we are
drawing cartoons about this subject," Charbonnier told CNN affiliate BFM-TV on
Wednesday. "It's more turning in derision this grotesque film than to make fun
of Mohammed."
The "lousy film" he's referring to is "Innocence of Muslims," an amateurish,
14-minute video that mocks the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester
and killer. The video drew international attention last week and spawned heated
protests in more than a dozen countries.
Imam: Mohammed insults are personal
Film mocking Mohammed sparks protests
Any depiction of Islam's prophet is considered blasphemy by many Muslims.
Charlie Hebdo journalist Laurent Leger said the magazine's cartoons show Muslim
men and Muslim extremists, but the magazine does not explicitly state that the
cartoons are depictions of the Prophet Mohammed.
Rather, he said, the cartoons are open to interpretation.
"The aim is to laugh. We want to laugh at the extremists -- every extremist.
They can be Muslim, Jewish, Catholic. Everyone can be religious, but extremist
thoughts and acts we cannot accept," Leger said.
"In France, we always have the right to write and draw. And if some people are
not happy with this, they can sue us and we can defend ourselves. That's
democracy. You don't throw bombs, you discuss, you debate. But you don't act
violently. We have to stand and resist pressure from extremism."
The cartoons are already drawing strong condemnation by the French Muslim
community.
Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the French Council of Muslim Faith, described
a feeling of "indignation against this new Islamophobic act" to BFM-TV.
He said the cartoons are "insulting for the prophet of Islam," and described
their publication as a "new provocation."
French authorities have already taken precautionary measures, with police
vehicles parked outside the offices of Charlie Hebdo late Tuesday.
The offices were the scene of an attack last November, when they were burned on
the day the magazine was due to publish an issue with a cover appearing to make
fun of Islamic law.
The cover featured a bearded and turbaned cartoon figure of the Prophet
Mohammed saying, "100 lashes if you're not dying of laughter."
The magazine received threats after it announced that the edition would be
guest-edited by the Prophet Mohammed and dedicated to the Arab Spring,
Charbonnier told BFM-TV in November.
The cartoonist known as Luz has been under police protection since last year,
when one of his illustrations depicting the Prophet Mohammed was featured on
the cover of that issue.
Luz told CNN the latest cartoons depicting Mohammed are not featured on the
cover.
"We learned our lesson," Luz said.
French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault weighed in on the debate Tuesday,
expressing "his disapproval of any excess" and appealing "to the spirit of
responsibility of each," according to a statement from his office.
"The prime minister states that the freedom of speech makes up one of the
fundamental principles of our republic. This freedom is expressed within the
confines of the law and under the control of the courts," the statement read.
Outside the country, security at French embassies have been reinforced, French
Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
"I am against all provocations, especially during a period as sensitive as this
one. I do not see any usefulness in such provocation," he told the radio
station France Info. "There must be freedom of speech, but I am absolutely
opposed to any provocation."
France has seen rising tensions over its rapidly growing Muslim minority -- the
largest Muslim population in western Europe. Last year, the country banned the
wearing of Islamic veils and other face coverings, claiming they were both
degrading and a security risk.
Belgium has passed similar legislation, and Switzerland banned the building of
minarets, the tall spires which often stand next to mosques.
CNN's Ana Bickford, Susannah Palk and Alex Felton contributed to this report.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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