An invitation to mobilize in defense of freedom



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A hundred French media today published an open letter calling for the mobilization in favor of freedom of expression in support of the satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo”, which has been threatened again by “Al Qaeda” since the reissue of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

“Today, in 2020, some of you are making death threats on social media after expressing individual views,” reads this open letter, titled “Together, we defend freedom.” The media have been explicitly classified as targets by international terrorist organizations. “And he continued:” We need you (…). The enemies of freedom must understand that we are all their enemies, regardless of our differences of opinion or beliefs. “The text cited the Declaration of Human Rights of 1789, highlighting that the entire legal structure that was built over more than two centuries to protect freedom of expression “has been under attack in an unprecedented way for 75 years. This time, it is based on new totalitarian doctrines that sometimes claim to be inspired by religious texts.
As the trial of the suspects in the attack that killed 12 people on January 7, 2015 continues until November 10, Marica Brett, director of human resources for “Charlie Hebdo,” was transferred earlier this week from her home. After being exposed to serious threats.
Brett, who has been under police protection for nearly five years after the attack on the newspaper’s headquarters, said the threats were “high enough to be taken seriously,” adding that he would not be returning home. “I had 10 minutes to collect my things and leave the house,” he explained in an interview with the weekly magazine “Le Point” in its first issue on Monday. Ten minutes to leave a part of my life behind, this is a short period, this is very brutal. Brett added that there is a tremendous amount of “hate” surrounding “Charlie Hebdo”: “The forced departure from my home translates into an unprecedented level of tension that we have to deal with.”
As for Reis, the director of the satirical newspaper, he confirmed in a statement to Agence France-Presse that “After the reissue of the cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad on September 2, 2020,“ Charlie Hebdo ”was again threatened by terrorist organizations. “These threats constitute a true provocation in the middle of the trial for the attacks of January 2015. They are threats that go beyond the institution because they also target all the media and even the President of the Republic.” He added that “we found it necessary to suggest to the media that they think of a collective response adapted to the nature of these threats,” without specifying them. He continued: “Thanks to the historic mobilization of the French media in spreading this message en masse to our citizens today, we want to send a strong message to defend our concept of freedom of expression, and even more so, the freedom of all French citizens. “.

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