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After the knife attack in front of the former headquarters of the satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” in Paris, the main suspect confessed to the crime and explained his motives. Several French media reported this unanimously. The man said he “could not bear” the reissue of controversial cartoons of Muhammad in the newspaper and was angry.
Two employees of a film production company were seriously injured by a knife in Friday’s attack. One of the bosses of the production company told Franceinfo: “You were seriously injured in the face. The attack was incredibly violent. There was a real will to kill.”
The alleged perpetrator is an 18-year-old Pakistani. He was arrested shortly after the crime. According to the newspaper “Le Parisien”, the man apparently believed that he was meeting with journalists from “Charlie Hebdo”. Apparently he did not know that the editorial team was working elsewhere. He had moved to a secret location after two Islamists killed twelve people in an attack on the editorial office in 2015. According to Le Monde, the Pakistani said he acted alone. There are no sponsors.
According to police, the man has been in France for three years and was previously not known as an Islamist. In June he was temporarily arrested because he had a “stabbing weapon” which was a screwdriver.
According to the newspaper “Le Monde”, the authorities doubt the age of the man and consider him older. He could have gotten younger for tactical reasons when he arrived in France. Minor migrants are protected from deportation and receive extensive state support.
Six other suspects
In addition to the main suspect, six other men were in police custody on Saturday morning. According to “Le Monde”, five of them are roommates of the alleged perpetrator, who are also Pakistani. An Algerian who was initially arrested was released that night because he had nothing to do with the attack. Rather, the investigations confirmed his statement that he had observed the crime and pursued the attacker.
French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin had classified the act as an act of Islamist terrorism.
The trial of the possible perpetrators of the 2015 bombing is currently underway in Paris. This time, “Charlie Hebdo” republished controversial cartoons of Muhammad from that time, sparking furious protests in mostly Islamic countries. The al-Qaeda terrorist network threatened an attack.
