On 11 January 2015, about 3.7 million people including President
Hollande and more than 40 world leaders led a "unity rally",
organised to show unity after the terror attacks on a French satirical magazine (Charlie Hebdo), that left 12 people dead and 11 others wounded.
Similar demonstrations and candle vigils spread to other cities outside
of France as well,
Earlier on 7 January 2015, two masked gunmen armed with AK-47 assault
rifles, a shotgun, and a RPG launcher stormed Charlie Hebdo's Paris
headquarters. They opened
fire with automatic weapons while shouting "Allahu Akbar", as captured in a video. They shot
and killed 11 people (10 in the offices and 1 maintenance worker), and wounded
11 others. Two of those killed were police officers.
Before the shooting, the
gunmen burst into number 6 Rue Nicolas-Appert, where the magazine's archives were based and
shouted, "Is this Charlie Hebdo?", before realising they
had the wrong address and left. They then went to the magazine's headquarters
at number 10 Rue Nicolas-Appert. Outside, they encountered
cartoonist Corinne "Coco"
Rey. She reported the two armed and hooded men spoke perfect French
and threatened to kill her toddler daughter whom she had just picked up from
day care if she did not type in the code to open the door to the building.
The armed men sprayed the
lobby with gunfire immediately upon entering the building. It was Charlie Hebdo's first news conference
of the year. Journalist Laurent Léger stated that the meeting was interrupted
by what they initially thought was the sound of prank firecrackers, but was actually the prior
gunfire which had occurred in the lobby. "We still thought it was a joke.
The atmosphere was still joyous," he recalled.
Not long after, the gunmen
burst into the meeting room and called out Charb's name to target him before
opening fire on the group. The shooting lasted five to ten minutes. The gunmen
aimed at heads and killed their victims execution-style.
A female journalist, Sigolène Vinson, survived and stated that
one of the shooters aimed at her but spared her life. The attackers displayed a
reluctance to harm women and told her that, "I'm not killing you because
you are a woman and we don't kill women but you have to convert to Islam, read
the Qu'ran and wear a veil." She said he then left, shouting, "Allahu
Akbar! Allahu Akbar!"
The gunmen then left the
scene, shouting, "We have avenged the Prophet Muhammad. We have
killed Charlie Hebdo!" They escaped in a getaway car, and drove
to Porte de
Pantin, hijacking another car on the way (corner of Rue de Meaux and
Passage de la Brie), forcing its driver out. As they drove away, they ran over a pedestrian
and shot at responding police officers.
It was initially believed
there were three suspects. One
identified suspect turned himself in at a Charleville-Mézières police
station. Seven acquaintances
of the Kouachi brothers were also taken into custody. Jihadist flags and Molotov cocktails were found in an
abandoned getaway car, a black Citroën C3.
In 2008, Charlie Hebdo was criticised for running Danish cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed. The magazine defended the publication in the name of freedom of expression.
In 2008, Charlie Hebdo was criticised for running Danish cartoons caricaturing the Prophet Mohammed. The magazine defended the publication in the name of freedom of expression.
After the attack
The attack received immediate and swift condemnation from dozens
of governments worldwide. Statements of condolence and outrage were offered by
many international leaders including Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin, Stephen Harper, Angela Merkel, Matteo Renzi, David Cameron and Tony Abbott.
Some English-language media outlets republished the
controversial cartoons on their websites in the hours following the shootings.
Prominent examples included Bloomberg News, The Huffington Post,
The Daily Beast, Gawker, Vox and The Washington
Free Beacon.
Other news organisations
covered the shootings without showing the controversial drawings, such as The New York Times, New York Daily News,
CNN, Al-Jazeera America, Associated Press and The Daily Telegraph. Two websites accused the latter group
of self-censorship. The BBC,
which previously had guidelines against all depictions of Muhammad, showed a
depiction of him on a Charlie
Hebdo cover and announced
that they were reviewing these guidelines.
Reporters Without
Borders criticised the
presence of leaders from Egypt, Russia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates,
saying "On what grounds are representatives of regimes that are predators
of press freedom coming to Paris to pay tribute to Charlie Hebdo, a publication
that has always defended the most radical concept of freedom of
expression?"
Muslim
reactions
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria, and Qatar denounced the incident, as did Egypt’s Al-Azhar University,
the leading Sunni institution of the Muslim world. Various Islamic organisations, like the French
Council of the Muslim Faith, the Muslim Council of
Britain and Islamic Forum of
Europe spoke out
against the attack, with Sheikh Abdul Qayum and Imam Dalil Boubakeur stating, "[We] are horrified by
the brutality and the savagery." The Union
of Islamic Organisations of France released
a statement condemning the attack, along with Imam Hassen Chalghoumi saying that those behind the attack
"have sold their soul to hell". The vice president of the
U.S. Ahmadiyya Muslim
Community also
condemned the attack, saying, "The culprits behind this atrocity have
violated every Islamic tenet of compassion, justice, and peace."
The League of Arab States released a collective condemnation of
the attack. Al-Azhar University also released a statement denouncing
the attack, stating that violence was never appropriate regardless of
"offence committed against sacred Muslim sentiments".
However, a British Islamist, Anjem Choudary, wrote an editorial in USA Today in which he professes justification
from the words of Muhammad that those who insult prophets should face death,
and that Muhammad should be protected to prevent further violence. Saudi-Australian Islamic preacher Junaid Thorne said: "If you want to enjoy
'freedom of speech' with no limits, expect others to exercise 'freedom of
action'."
Bahujan Samaj Party leader Yaqub Qureishi, a Muslim MLA and former
Minister from Uttar Pradesh in India, offered a reward of 
510 million
(US$8 million) to the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shootings. Qureshi was in headlines in 2006 after
declaring a reward of the same value to anyone who would kill the Danish
cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, who had created a
controversial cartoon of the Muhammad.
510 million
(US$8 million) to the perpetrators of the Charlie Hebdo shootings. Qureshi was in headlines in 2006 after
declaring a reward of the same value to anyone who would kill the Danish
cartoonist, Kurt Westergaard, who had created a
controversial cartoon of the Muhammad.
The attack was also
praised by ISIS. ISIS militant Abu Mussab from Syria
praised the massacre. Al-Shabaab,
a militant Islamist organisation in Somalia, also praised the attackers.
Two Islamist newspapers
in Turkey ran headlines that drew ire on social media for justifying the
attack: the Yeni Akit ran an article entitled "Attack
on the magazine that provoked Muslims", and Türkiye ran an article entitled "Attack
on the magazine that insulted our Prophet".
"Afghanistan rally hails Charlie
Hebdo attackers as 'heroes'.
Hundreds in southern Afghanistan rallied to praise the killing of 12 people at
the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, calling the two gunmen "heroes"
who meted out punishment for cartoons disrespectful to Islam's prophet,
officials said Saturday. The demonstrators also protested President Ashraf
Ghani's swift condemnation of the bloody attack on the satirical
newspaper," reported Yahoo Canada, on a Reuters wire.
The phrase Je suis Charlie (French for "I am Charlie") has come to
be a common worldwide sign of solidarity against the attacks. Many demonstrators used the slogan to express
solidarity with the magazine. The United
States Embassy in Paris changed
its Twitter profile picture to the "Je suis Charlie" placard.
Culled from WIKIPEDIA
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