Charlie Hebdo has been at it again

CHARLIE Hebdo magazine has been at it again, adding to its long history of racist cartoons. It depicts dead refugee babies as future “ass gropers”, uses the n-word and makes fun of massacred Egyptian activists.

Charlie Hebdo first attracted international attention by republishing a Danish newspaper’s incendiary cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2006.

Since the attack, the French magazine has continued to cause outrage with its irreverent, often sexually explicit cartoons. It is frequently sued by religious groups and politicians.

Freedom of speech always has limits. It always has to be balanced against other freedoms, such as freedom from racial vilification. Everyone recognises that freedom of speech is not absolute, and nobody is saying that it is. But the international response to Charlie Hebdo does not seem to take this into account.

France has, on numerous occasions, prosecuted comedians for joking about the Holocaust. It has prosecuted “boycott Israel” protesters for discrimination. It has prosecuted people numerous times for making insulting comments about politicians.

But France refused to prosecute Charlie Hebdo for its hate speech against Muslims. Why?

By refusing to press hate speech/discrimination charges against anti-Muslim magazines, France is sending the message that it has no problem with anti-Muslim bigotry. RIYAAD DHAI

Durban