14 September,2016 11:21 PM IST | | Agencies
The Italian town of Amatrice, hit by a deadly earthquake last month, is pursuing legal action against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for defamation over a series of cartoons about the tragedy
Rome: The Italian town of Amatrice, hit by a deadly earthquake last month, is pursuing legal action against the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for defamation over a series of cartoons about the tragedy.
The two cartoons mocked the victims of the tragedy in Italy that claimed 292 lives
An earthquake last month killed at least 292 people in Amatrice, home to a famous tomato sauce "amatriciana". The complaint was based on cartoons published by the magazine after the quake.
One cartoon, titled "Earthquake, Italian Style", depicted quake victims as sauce-splattered survivors, and layers of Lasagna with blood and feet emerging from it. (right top)
The cartoon immediately sparked outcry among Italians and prompted the French embassy in Rome to issue a statement saying the drawing "in no way represents France's position".
The publication then replied with a follow-up toon suggesting the mafia was to blame, saying, "it's not Charlie Hebdo who built your homes, it's the mafia!" (right bottom)
"It amounts to a macabre, tactless and inconceivable insult to the victims of a natural catastrophe," the town council's lawyer Mario Cicchetti said after the legal move was announced.
