The Paris Mosque is suing a French satirical magazine for alleged racism, saying three cartoons in an edition published last year were insulting to Muslims.

Charlie Hebdo, a weekly, defends its publication of the cartoons about the prophet Muhammad under freedom of expression laws. A Paris court will hear the case tomorrow and on February 8. Witnesses will include politicians, a presidential candidate, and writers.

The hearing will go over many of the same issues debated throughout the world after the Danish newspaper Jyllands Posten a year ago printed 12 cartoons about the prophet Muhammad, sparking riots and anti-Danish boycotts in parts of the Islamic world. It will also set out jurisprudence on how officially secular France deals with criticism of Islam, which, thanks to immigration, has become the country ‘s second-largest religion.

“This is a case that goes way beyond just freedom of expression,” Charlie Hebdo’s lawyer, Richard Malka, said. “It puts into question the Republic and the whole notion of secular society.”

The cartoons aren’t covered by freedom of speech, a lawyer for the Paris Mosque, Francis Szpiner, said. “Racism is not an opinion,” he said. “It’s abuse and it’s a crime.”

Inciting racial hatred is punishable by six months in jail and $29,000 fine in France. Mr. Szpiner says his clients aren’t seeking any penalties.

The Paris Mosque and the Union of Islamic Organizations of France are suing Charlie Hebdo over cartoons published on February 8, 2006. Two of them were reprinted from Jyllands Posten at the height of the controversy. They show Muhammad’s turban as a bomb and Muhammad telling suicide bombers that they should stop coming to heaven because he’s run out of virgins.

The third cartoon was Charlie Hebdo’s own and was the edition’s cover. It shows Muhammad holding his head and saying: “It’s hard to be loved by so many idiots.”

The cartoons target violent fundamentalists, not Islam or most Muslims, Mr. Malka says. That’s a distinction that Charlie Hebdo can’t make, Mr. Szpiner says.

“It’s not admissible to make an amalgam between Islam and terrorism,” Mr. Szpiner says. “They say they are just poking fun at fundamentalists. But what’s a fundamentalist? I’m not aware of any definition. It’s an insult to all Muslims.”

Muslims make up between 3% and 10% of France’s 61 million inhabitants, according to various studies. France doesn’t allow official statistics on race and religion. Catholics make up between 60% and 80% of the population, although only a minority practices the religion, polls show.

Mr. Malka says he’s planning to call 13 witnesses at the trial, including centrist presidential candidate Francois Bayrou and Socialist Party general secretary Francois Hollande.

“Mr. Bayrou is appearing at the request of Mr. Val to defend the principle of freedom of speech,” Mr. Bayrou’s spokeswoman, Ophelie Rota, said, referring to Charlie Hebdo’s publisher, Philippe Val.

Mr. Malka says he’ll also call two French Islamic writers, Mohammed Sifaoui and Abdelwahab Meddeb, who have supported Charlie Hebdo, to show “this is not about anyone against Islam, but enlightened Islam against obscurantist Islam.”

Mr. Szpiner says Mr. Malka is turning the trial into a press circus. “Mr. Val is trying to sell a trial that isn’t going to happen,” Mr. Szpiner said. “He wants you to think that you have to be on his side to defend liberty of expression, which isn’t under threat, and defend secularism, which isn’t threatened either. The Muslims of France aren’t trying to call for a return of blasphemy laws.”

Mr. Malka says he’s won 10 cases for Charlie Hebdo against Catholics, including for a cartoon showing priests defecating in a church and for editorials using scatological terms to describe the pope. He says he lost once for a cartoon showing the pope being guillotined.

Another French newspaper, France Soir, also printed the cartoons out of solidarity with Jyllands Posten. Its editor, Jacques Lefranc, was then fired by Raymond Lakah, the newspaper’s French-Egyptian owner.