Charlie Hebdo

Hello everyone!

You have probably heard about the assassination of twelve French journalist in Paris this week. They were working for the French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo. This weekly paper (hebdo is the short form of the French word hebdomadaire which means weekly) is famous for publishing taunting caricatures. The magazine used to make fun of religious fanaticism, racism, intolerance and capitalism. Among their “victims” are people such as the Roman Catholic Pope, Jews and the Islamic prophet Mohammed. Now, a caricature of the latter had serious consequences for the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo.

On Wednesday 7 January 2015 two armed men, who belonged to an Islamist group, assaulted the offices of Charlie Hebdo in the Rue Nicolas Appert in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. They killed 12 people, amongst them the chief editor, by shooting them with rifles. Both men managed to escape after the attack.
 

Only a couple of hours later two hostage-takings shocked France. The two alleged assassins of Charlie Hebdo barricaded themselves together with one hostage in a print office in Dammartin-en-Goelle near the airport Charles-de-Gaulle. At the same time another extremist entrenched himself with several other hostages in a supermarket in Paris. The city was on the alert and big parts of the metropolis stood still. French Special Forces finally attacked the three hostage-takers simultaneously. All of them have been killed in the exchange of fire. Unfortunately, four hostages didn’t survive the attack of the police as well.

France, and with the country the entire world, is shocked and speechless. The French Republic is known for being extraordinary proud of being a free and democratic country where the freedom of speech is guaranteed to all people. Francois Hollande, the French president, announced a strict course of action against any form of terrorism in France. The survivors of the editorial staff declared that they are going to continue their fight against suppression and censorship. People all over the world now show their solidarity with the victims of Charlie Hebdo by peaceful protest. Let's hope that this assassination will stay the last of its sort for a long time.