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Updated 2 hours ago
A MAN ARMED with a knife seriously injured two people today in an alleged terrorist attack outside the former offices of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo in Paris, three weeks after the trial of men accused of being accomplices in the 2015 massacre. of the newspaper staff.
Charlie Hebdo had enraged many Muslims around the world by publishing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and in a defiant gesture before this month’s trial, he reprinted the cartoons on the cover.
12 people, including some of France’s most famous cartoonists, were killed in the January 7, 2015 attack by Islamist gunmen.
Paris police said two people were “seriously injured” in today’s attack, which is being investigated by prosecutors specializing in counterterrorism. An earlier issue had said four were injured, two seriously.
The suspect was detained after the attack near Bastille Square, not far from the scene, and faces possible charges of “attempted murder related to terrorism” and “conspiracy with terrorists,” police and prosecutors said.
A second person has also been detained in the Bastille area, a judicial source told AFP.
Initial reports had indicated that there were two attackers, but police later emphasized that it appeared to have been only one.
‘Two injured comrades’
A staff member at the Premieres Lignes news production agency said two colleagues were injured in the attack.
“Two colleagues smoked cigarettes in the street. I heard screams. I went to the window and saw a colleague, bloody, chased by a man with a machete, ”said the employee.
“We know that our two teammates are injured, but we don’t know more at the moment.”
Five schools in the area were immediately closed without anyone being able to leave or enter.
“A serious event has occurred in Paris,” said Prime Minister Jean Castex, who was about to address reporters during a visit north of Paris, before suspending the event to address the crisis center of the Interior Ministry.
He added that the attack took place “in front of” the former Charlie Hebdo offices in the 11th arrondissement of central Paris. The current address of the magazine is being kept secret for security reasons.
“Around noon we went to the restaurant for lunch. When we arrived, the manager started yelling ‘Go, go, there is an attack…’ We ran to lock ourselves in and stay inside our store with four clients, ”Hassani Erwan, a 23-year-old barber, told AFP.
Charlie threatened
The stabbing occurred while on trial in the capital for alleged accomplices of the perpetrators of the January 2015 attack on Charlie Hebdo by brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi and claimed by a branch of Al Qaeda.
A female police officer died a day later, followed the day after by the murder of four men in a hostage-taking in a Jewish supermarket by the gunman Amedy Coulibaly.
The 14 defendants are accused of having aided and abetted the perpetrators of the 2015 attacks, who were also killed in the massacres.
The trial has reopened one of the most painful chapters in modern French history, with heartbreaking testimonies from survivors and relatives of the deceased.
The magazine, defiant as ever, had ushered in the trial by republishing controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad that had enraged Muslims around the world.
Al-Qaeda then threatened Charlie Hebdo with a repeat of the 2015 massacre of its staff.
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More than 100 French media outlets on Wednesday asked people to support Charlie Hebdo, targeting the “enemies of freedom.”
Police removed Charlie Hebdo’s chief of human resources, Marika Bret, from her home following death threats received last week.
The trial resumes
The trial in Paris resumed today after a one-day hiatus after a suspect’s coronavirus test came back negative.
The hearing of the 14 suspects, which opened on September 2, was postponed yesterday after Nezar Mickael Pastor Alwatik fell ill on the stand.
He was back on the stand today, after the presiding judge informed defense attorneys and prosecutors via SMS on Thursday night that the test results allowed the trial to continue.
The January 2015 attacks heralded a wave of Islamist violence that left 258 dead and raised disturbing questions about modern France’s ability to preserve security and harmony in a multicultural society.
© – AFP 2020
Comments are closed as the legal proceedings mentioned in the copy are ongoing.
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