FR: Cartoons 1 : Muhammad 0

DANISH CARICATURES ON TRIAL IN FRANCE. A French republication of the controversial Muhammad cartoons from Denmark has led to a fierce legal battle. But France's politicians -- in a year when some of them are running for president -- are clearly on the side of satire ... By Stefan Simons

France's satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo was taken to court by Islamic groups in France for reprinting the controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Sales shot from 60,000 to 400,000.

The style of debate was intellectually on a par with that of any literary salon; the legal arguments will be sure to enter the canon of every lawyer's professional training; and the appearances made by high-ranking representatives of science and politics were often reminiscent of high theater. When Muslim organizations sued French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, everyone posed -- in unexpected ways -- as defenders of this or that French tradition. (...)