Amatrice sues Charlie Hebdo for quake cartoon

On Monday, the municipality of Amatrice announced a lawsuit against the French "satire" weekly Charlie Hebdo for mocking the victims and survivors of the magnitude-6 earthquake that struck central Italy August 24. The calamity killed 295 people and left about 4,500 homeless in towns about 150 kilometers (90 miles) northeast of the capital, Rome.

"This is a macabre, senseless and inconceivable insult to victims of a natural event," lawyer Mario Cicchetti said, according to the news agency ANSA. "Criticism, including through satire, is an inviolable right both in Italy and France, but not everything can be 'satire,' and in this case the two cartoons offend the memory of all victims of the earthquake, survivors and the city of Amatrice," he added.

Two weeks ago, Charlie Hebdo's "Earthquake, Italian Style" depicted a bloodied man as "penne pomodoro," a charred woman as "penne gratin" and layers of bodies and rubble as "lasagna." The outrage was immediate - also coming from France's embassy in Rome - and Charlie Hebdo quickly posted a cartoon in response to Facebook. It depicted a wounded woman trying to raise herself from the rubble and the caption "Italians, it's not Charlie Hebdo that constructed your houses: It's the Mafia."

"How the hell can you make a comic about death?" Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi said after the first cartoon was published. "I'm sure that this unpleasant and shameful satire has nothing to do with the true feelings of the French."

mkg/rc (EFE, dpa)