The green wheel turns…

Via the Guardian

The trial of a Tunisian TV station charged with “insulting sacred values” by screening the award-winning film Persepolis resumed earlier this week, only to be postponed again. The trial is being seen as a crucial test for the role of Islam within the country’s nascent democracy.
Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud’s animation is accused of violating Islam with its cartoon representation of God. The film sparked furious protests when it was broadcast by the Nessma TV station last year.
Based on Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis is a coming-of-age tale set against the backdrop of the 1979 Iranian revolution. Following its broadcast in October 2011, Islamic extremists stormed the Nessma office in Tunis and later firebombed Karoui’s house. The trial of Nessma began in November but was quickly adjourned after angry confrontations within the courtroom. Following further altercations this week, the trial has again been postponed. It is now due to resume in April.
At the trial earlier this week, Nabil Karoui, the director of Nessma, said: “I am sorry to be here today, this is a political trial. It is the trial of 10m Tunisians who dreamed of having a democratic country.” His station has been charged with “insulting sacred values, offending decent morals and causing public unrest”.