“My accused is called religion”. At the appeal trial of the January 2015 attacks against Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher, the lawyer for the satirical weekly posed Monday evening as an heir to the Enlightenment, slaying religious “fanaticism” and “rigorist” Islam. Kouachi brothers.

When he stands up to the special Assize Court of Paris which has been retrying two defendants since September 12 for their alleged role in these jihadist attacks, Me Richard Malka immediately explains that his pleading will be unlike any other.

Lawyer for the publishing company of Charlie Hebdo, he pleaded to “
countless opportunities », «
for fifteen years » and the trial of «
cartoons », on freedom of expression, the right to blasphemy. “
What sense would it make today to come back to it? “, launches Me Malka in front of a provided audience.

“Diagnosis of a disease”

In this room named Voltaire, within the historic courthouse in Paris, the lawyer uses the words of the philosopher of the Enlightenment, this “
slayer of religions “, this “
free spirit who said of Christianity that she was
the most ridiculous, absurd and bloodthirsty religion that has ever infected the world “.

“
This is how we dared to talk about religions in the 18th century
! exclaims Me Malka.

“I’m talking about a vision of Islam, not Muslims. A dogmatic vision whose main victims are Muslims” The lawyer for Charlie Hebdo

“
three centuries later “, he does not want to anymore “
to plead the consequences of terror “, but its “
cause ” to ask “
diagnosis of a disease and that the massacres committed in the name of this religion cease.

Because this “
accused ” whose “
should never pronounce » the name has one, continues Me Malka with an ultra-fast flow: «
You have to look it in the face. It’s called religion “.

” Motive for the crime ”

“
It’s not me who invents a fight “, emphasizes the lawyer who invites us to remember the words of the brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi, repeated at “
three times after their massacre at Charlie Hebdo:
We avenged the Prophet Muhammad “.

“
This is the motive of the crime and it is explicit », Supports Richard Malka. The crimes of the Kouachi are “
motivated by islam “. “
I’m talking about a view of Islam, not Muslims. A dogmatic vision whose main victims are Muslims “, he adds.

And to say that this vision is
anecdotal », «
marginal ” not to “
dwell on it ” is “
fake “, protests Me Malka who calls for “
denouncesr” and to the “
combat “.

“Controversy” which opposes two currents of Islam

In a pleading that increasingly resembles a theology course, the Charlie Hebdo lawyer plunges back into the origins of a “
controversial ” which opposed two currents of Islam 1,400 years ago and which has “
never stopped “.

If this “

millennial debate finds itself at the heart of the trial, it is because the “
vision of Islam to which the Kouachi brothers adhered, it is blasphemy “, a “
sight that kills all over the face of the earth “, from Nigeria to Pakistan, believes Me Malka.

Quoting verses from the Quran, he says: There is no Quranic basis for killing for cartoons “. “
All this is pure madness fed by ignorance, where the other vision of Islam advocated reason fed by knowledge “.

For the lawyer of the satirical weekly, “
the accusation of blasphemy, Islamophobia “has become a”
weapon of massive censorship (…) to prohibit any criticism of religion on the pretext of a hypocritical respect whose real name is fear “.

There is an Islam of darkness whose main enemy is the Islam of enlightenment

To question this religion, however, is, assures Richard Malka, “
the only way for the Islam of the spirituality which enriches, pacifies, respects otherness and freedom, the Islam of the courageous policeman Ahmed Merabet (killed by the Kouachi brothers after the massacre at Charlie Hebdo, editor’s note), triumph of that of the Kouachi who exploits, terrifies and fanaticizes “.

“
There is an Islam of enlightenment and an Islam of darkness whose main enemy is the Islam of enlightenment. There is an Islam of philosophers and an Islam of preachers (…) We won’t find a refuge outside of space and time, so let’s express ourselves “, concludes Me Malka.

The verdict is expected Thursday evening.