Twelve journalists and policemen are reported to have been killed in a terror attack against the Paris-based satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday, the same publication that was fire-bombed four years ago when it published an image of the prophet Mohammed on its front cover.
French President Francois Hollande said the attack was “without a doubt” an act of terror, as witnesses saw two heavily armed men race into the building and shoot indiscriminately, having already killed two policemen.
The publication has launched a series of attacks on Muslim extremism and the last tweet on its profile page @Charlie_Hebdo_ , sent about an hour before the shootings, included a satirical cartoon of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. In it he wishes everyone “good health”.
Hollande said this terrorist attack left France in a state of shock. He said his government would be holding an emergency meeting at the Elysee Palace and the security level in Paris had been raised.
British Prime Minister David Cameron joined the condemnation of the attack, saying: “The murders in Paris are sickening. We stand with the French people in the fight against terror and defending the freedom of the press.”
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) and the World Editors Forum also condemned Wednesday’s attack, which the organisation’s CEO Vincent Peyrègne described as an “outrageous atrocity.”
“With 61 journalists killed in 2014 and the New Year beginning under such horrific circumstances, we are reminded that an attack of this nature strikes at the heart of the very freedoms that the press in France so passionately defends. It is not just an attack against the press, but also an attack on the fabric of our society and the values for which we all stand. This should be a wake up call for all of us to counter the rising climate of hatred that threatens to fracture our understanding of democracy,” Peyrègne said.
“We are deeply shocked by the terrorist attack which has cost many people’s lives today at the Charlie Hebdo headquarters in Paris. The EPP Group strongly condemns these meaningless murders", said Manfred Weber MEP, Chairman of the EPP Group in the European Parliament.
“The attack against Charlie Hebdo is an attack against freedom of press and freedom of expression which are core European values, together with freedom of religion. Europe must stand up for these values. We cannot allow those who hate the principles of freedom and democracy, on which our societies are built, put them into question. No religion or political belief can be used to justify murder”, he said.
“Europe must stand united in the fight against terror to protect our citizens and our European models of society. We stand firmly by France’s side in its fight against terrorism.”
