Charlie Hebdo reprints divisive Prophet Mohamed cartoons as terror trial begins
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To mark Wednesday's historic trial of the 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical weekly has republished the divisive cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed that made it a target by Islamist gunmen.
“All this, for that,” the front cover reads in bold print above and below the reprinted cartoons, which were first published by the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005.
”We will never go to bed. We'll never give up," Charlie Hebdo's managing editor Laurent "Riss" Sourisseau says in the latest issue, which is already available to buy online but will not be sold in newsstands until Wednesday afternoon.
Bravo! @Charlie_Hebdo_ republishes Mohammed cartoons as trial for accomplices of the attackers startshttps://t.co/mIGk3NUV4J pic.twitter.com/Uo9SSM6AIg
— Muhammad Syed (PBUM) (@MoTheAtheist) September 1, 2020
Riss lost the use of his right arm in the 7 January attack, but survived by pretending to be dead.
"The hatred that struck us is still there and, since 2015, it has taken the time to mutate, to change its appearance to go unnoticed and quietly continue its ruthless crusade,” he says.
The cartoons, which mock the Prophet Mohamed and are viewed as a provocation by many Muslims, prompted jihadist brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi to invade Charlie Hebdo’s newsroom in Paris’s 11th arrondissement, and massacre 12 people.
Several of France's most celebrated cartoonists were killed during the rampage, which set off the “Je Suis Charlie” slogan and logo that went viral, prompting millions take to the streets in defence of freedom of speech.
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Although the perpetrators were killed in the wake of the shooting, 14 alleged accomplices of the attack – along with a subsequent attack on a Jewish supermarket – will go on trial on Wednesday.
“We have often been asked to publish new Mohamed cartoons, but we have always refused. Not because it is forbidden, but because we needed a good reason, a reason that adds something to the debate,” Charlie Hebdo’s editors write in their latest edition.
“The start of the trial, therefore, seems to us to be a good reason.”
The French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM) has called on the public to "ignore" the cartoons, while paying tribute to victims of terrorist attacks over the past decade.
"Both the freedom to draw caricatures and the freedom not to like them are guaranteed in France. Nothing justifies violence," the council tweeted.
Pensée pour les victimes du terrorisme à Paris en jan et nov 2015, Toulouse et Montauban 2012, Nice et St Étienne de Rouvray 2016. Ce terrorisme est notre ennemi. La liberté de caricatures et la liberté de ne pas les aimer sont garanties et rien ne saurait justifier la violence.
— CFCM (@CfcmOfficiel) September 1, 2020
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