The decision by the French satirical magazine to recirculate cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad and Islam coincides with the start of a long-awaited trial for the attack that killed 11 of its staff
A member of the photographer’s family watches the official twitter account of the french satirical newspaper 'Charlie Hebdo' as it reprints controversial Muhammad caricatures on September 01, 2020 in Paris, France. On September 02, 2020, a Paris court will open the trial of 13 men and a woman accused of providing the assailants with material and logistical support in the run-up to the attack of Charlie Hebdo's former offices on January 07, 2015
Image: Marc Piasecki/Getty Images
PARIS — The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo has republished the same cartoons about the Prophet Muhammad and Islam that prompted a deadly attack on the magazine in 2015, an act that will be seen by some as a commitment to free speech and by others as reckless provocation.
The publication coincides with the start Wednesday of the long-awaited terrorism trial of people accused as accomplices in the attack — potentially cathartic for a nation that was deeply scarred by that act of brutality. The magazine posted the cartoons online Tuesday, and they will appear in print Wednesday.
The trial and the reappearance of cartoons that are seen by many as offensive come as France is seeing protests against racism and calls for reflection on the treatment of minorities in its society, past and present.
The growing sensitivity to race, ethnicity and religion has clashed with France’s traditionally forceful commitment to freedom of expression and secularism. Many traditionalists have expressed concern that the country is yielding to American-style identity politics, long widely rejected in France.
Charlie Hebdo’s editors wrote in the new issue that it was “unacceptable to start the trial" without showing the “pieces of evidence” to readers and citizens. Not republishing the caricatures would have amounted to “political or journalistic cowardice," they added. “Do we want to live in a country that claims to be a great democracy, free and modern, which, at the same time, does not affirm its most profound convictions?"
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