A Paris court heard opening arguments Wednesday in a defamation trial against a French satirical weekly that reprinted caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that last year stoked outrage and violence across the Islamic world. Charlie-Hebdo magazine and the publication's director, Philippe Val, are charged with "publicly slandering a group of people because of their religion." The charge carries a possible six-month prison sentence and a fine of up to $28,530.
The Paris Mosque and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France brought the charges.
The caricatures, one of which showed Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban, were published first in a Danish paper in September 2005, and sparked angry protests across the Islamic world and in Europe. Many European papers later reprinted them in the name of media freedom. ...