France court upholds ban on anti-Islamist rally News
France court upholds ban on anti-Islamist rally

[JURIST] The Paris Administrative Tribunal on Saturday upheld a police chief’s ban on an “Islamists out of France” rally planned for Sunday. The demonstration, which was organized [AP report] by two groups: Secular Riposte and Resistance Republicaine, was banned because of fears it would cause [AP report] civil unrest. One group organizing the event said that rallies will still go on in the cities of Bordeaux and Montpellier. The demonstration was planned after terrorist attacks in Paris that began at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo [corporate website, in French] earlier this month and left 17 people dead over three days.

The rampage was condemned [JURIST report] internationally by the UN Secretary-General, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) [official website]. French police have arrested [JURIST report] 54 people for verbally supporting or threatening terrorist acts in the wake of the terrorist attacks, including four minors and French comedian Dieudonne who is known for his anti-Semitic views. The French Justice Ministry also called on prosecutors to crack down on hate speech, anti-Semitism and support of terrorism. In Spain the High Court [official website, in Spanish] on Thursday ordered [JURIST report] an initial investigation of the time Amedy Coulibaly spent in Spain prior to the attacks in Paris last week. Coulibaly is one of the gunmen associated with the shooting of a policewoman and attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris that left four dead. A Turkish court on Wednesday banned access to websites showing the new cover of Charlie Hebdo, which features a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad holding up a sign reading “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) with a headline that says “All is forgiven.”