The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters on Sunday postponed the first trial session of a lawsuit that would ban Paris-based Charlie Hebdo and French magazine Liberation because they insulted the Muslim faith.
The lawsuit said the publications insulted the Prophet, adding that “freedom of speech does not mean insulting the faith of others,” state media reported. The court postponed the first trial hearing to March 15.
The attack on Charlie Hebdo left nine journalists, the magazine’s editor-in-chief Stephane Charbonnier and two police officers dead, attacks later claimed by al-Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP).
The deaths included four of the weekly magazine’s most famous cartoonists.
A video shot from a rooftop of a nearby building shows the assailants carrying out the attack crying “Allahu Akbar” at one point.
Charlie Hebdo’s editorial line is known for its widespread criticism on a range of issues, taking aim at many religions, and is not restricted to Islam. The magazine was previously attacked in 2011, also after poking fun at the Muslim prophet.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi condemned the attack and stressed Egypt’s solidarity with France. Al-Azhar issued a statement condemning the attack, noting that “Islam denounces any violence.”
Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry joined other world leaders in the “million-man rally” in Paris following the attack.
