Charlie-Hebdo will not be punished for publishing the Danish Muhammad cartoons.

A French court cleared a satirical weekly newspaper Thursday in a case brought by Muslims who were angered by its publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

The newspaper Charlie-Hebdo and its director, Philippe Val, were accused of "publicly abusing a group of people because of their religion." Val had risked a six-month prison sentence and a fine of up to $29,250.

The court ruled that Charlie-Hebdo showed no intention of insulting the Muslim community with the caricatures, several of which appeared first in a Danish paper and sparked angry protests across the Muslim world and in Europe.

The case drew massive attention from politicians and the media in France, which has western Europe's largest Muslim population — 5 million people — and a deep commitment to secularism and free speech.

Val said the ruling was a victory for believers in freedom of expression, and for secular French Muslims.

"This debate was necessary," he said.

Frankly, this victory for free speech should have come even if the editors had intended to publicly abuse and insult Muslims -- after all, no one has a right not to be offended, and a free people cannot be forced to conform their speech to the practices and beliefs of a particular faith without having their fundamental human rights violated.

Posted by: Greg at 10:50 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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