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At the beginning of the trial for the attack on “Charlie Hebdo”, the satirical newspaper wants to republish the cartoons of Muhammad. President Macron emphasizes that it is not his job to judge the decision.
Before the start of the trial in Paris for the attack on the satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” in January 2015, French President Emmanuel Macron defended the right to blasphemy in his country. The right to blasphemous statements and representations is covered by freedom of conscience in France, Macron said Tuesday during a visit to the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
His role as president is “to protect these freedoms,” Macron stressed at a press conference. It is not the job of the French president to judge the editorial decisions of a journalist or an editorial team.
In the trial for the attack on “Charlie Hebdo”, eleven suspects will have to appear before a jury for “belonging to a terrorist group” starting Wednesday (10:00 am). Three other men have been charged in absentia; they are wanted on an international arrest warrant.
Twelve people died in the attack.
The suspects allegedly supported the Islamist brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi, who broke into the editorial offices of “Charlie Hebdo” and killed twelve people in cold blood, including some of France’s most famous cartoonists.
Furthermore, the defendants are said to have supported another Islamist in the Paris trial, who later killed a policewoman and four customers of a supermarket visited by Jews. The defendants face from prison to life imprisonment. The Kouachi brothers themselves were located and killed after a two-day manhunt by elite police officers.
The newspaper wants to publish the cartoons of Muhammad again
At the start of the trial, “Charlie Hebdo” wants to republish the Muhammad cartoons, which had drawn severe criticism from Muslims. “We will never rest. We will never give up,” backlash leader Laurent Sourisseau alias “Riss” wrote in the online edition on Tuesday.
Mohammed cartoons will appear on the cover of Wednesday’s issue. It will show a dozen cartoons that were first published in 2005 by the Danish daily “Jyllands-Posten” and reprinted by “Charlie Hebdo” in 2006. Many Muslims around the world were provoked by the prints.
The cover of the new edition will also include a drawing of the Prophet by “Charlie Hebdo” cartoonist Jean Cabut, known as “Cabu.” Cabu was among those killed in the attack.
The government of Pakistan is essential
The Pakistani government harshly criticized the reprint of Mohammed’s “Charlie Hebdo” cartoons. Pakistan condemns this “in the strongest way,” it said in a statement posted on the Foreign Ministry’s Internet service Twitter. The reissue would deliberately hurt “the feelings of billions of Muslims.” This cannot be justified by freedom of the press or freedom of expression.
There are strict laws against blasphemy in Pakistan. Insulting the prophet Muhammad can be punished there with the death penalty.
