bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo will mark a year since the jihadist attack on its offices with a cover featuring a bloodied, gun-toting, bearded God figure, under the headline: “One year on: The assassin still at large”.
One million copies of the special edition will go on sale in France Wednesday, on the eve of the first anniversary of the killing of 12 people at the magazine’s Paris offices by brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi.

Eight Charlie Hebdo staff were among the victims of the January 7, 2015 assault which brought millions of people onto France’s streets in protest and transformed a fading publication into a global symbol of freedom of expression.
A total of 17 people were killed in three days of attacks that also targeted a Jewish supermarket and police, marking the start of a string of jihadist strikes in France that culminated in November’s massacre in Paris.
READ MORE: Charlie Hebdo to Islamic State: ‘They have weapons. Screw them, we have champagne!’
Charlie Hebdo’s offices had been firebombed in 2011 and other magazines in Europe which published Mohammed cartoons had also been threatened, but the brazen attack in Paris shocked the world.
Le Monde described the attack, which was claimed by Al-Qaeda’s branch in the Arabian Peninsula as revenge for Charlie’s cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed, as “France’s 9/11”.
Within hours of the shootings, #JeSuisCharlie went viral, rallying millions behind the plight of a publication that had nearly shut down a month earlier because of a lack of readers.

As police scoured the capital for the killers, Amedy Coulibaly, a radicalised Frenchman claiming to be working with the Kouachis, killed a policewoman.
The next day, he took shoppers hostage at a Jewish supermarket, killing four people before police stormed the building and shot him dead.
The Kouachi brothers were killed in a simultaneous shootout with police, north of Paris.
READ MORE: Documentary about the Charlie Hebdo massacre wants us to refocus on the principles at stake
On Sunday, January 11, in a grieving Paris, President Francois Hollande led an anti-terror march that drew dozens of world leaders, from German Chancellor Angela Merkel to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

A further four million people rallied across France in a display of unity not seen since the liberation from Nazi tyranny in 1944.
But behind the apparently unified facade, a difficult debate unfolded over freedom of speech.
Many Muslims soon made it clear that while they condemned the violence, they were offended by what they saw as Charlie’s racist portrayal of their faith and its followers.
In Charlie’s defence, its supporters said the magazine was part of a time-honoured French satirical tradition in which no-one -- from popes and business tycoons to celebrities and sports stars -- is spared barbs.
When Charlie Hebdo defiantly re-appeared on newsstands a week after the attack with a front cover featuring the Prophet Mohammed with a tear in his eye under the headline “All is forgiven”, 7.5 million copies were sold, but angry protests were held across the Muslim world from Chechnya to Chad.

French society meanwhile was left to ask how the killers, brought up and educated in France, became so radicalised. Prime Minister Manuel Valls spoke of a “social and ethnic apartheid” in which the children of immigrants from the poorest parts of French cities had lost out.
A series of other assaults followed.
In August, a bloodbath on a high-speed train was narrowly averted when passengers led by holidaying US soldiers overpowered a heavily-armed gunman.
Then, on Friday, November 13, nine men -- most of whom had fought alongside Islamic State (IS) extremists in Syria -- unleashed explosives near the Stade de France stadium and opened fire on people enjoying a night out at bars and restaurants in Paris, and at the Bataclan concert hall that lies just a short walk from where the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists were killed.
In all, 130 people lost their lives and 350 were wounded.

This time, the positive energy that seemed to flow from the terrible events of January seemed largely absent.
Fear and anger gripped the country, helping the far-right National Front to pick up an unprecedented 28 percent of the vote in regional elections in December.
Hollande, donning the cloak of war leader, increased air strikes on IS in Syria and Iraq as he promised to crush the group.
But he also seemed to strike a chord with many as he warned again and again of the perils of intolerance and sectarianism.
“We will not give in either to fear or to hate,” Hollande vowed. “To all of you, I solemnly promise that France will do everything to destroy the army of fanatics that committed these crimes.”


Brother-in-law of Charlie Hebdo killer is arrested while trying to get to Syria

Hong Kong’s French and Israeli consulates condemn race-hate comic’s visit

Man with knife and fake explosive vest shot dead at Paris police station a year after Charlie Hebdo attack

Charlie Hebdo marks year since attack with provocative cover

Charlie Hebdo attack

A worker of a printing house near Paris on January 4, 2015 holds a copy of the latest edition of the French Satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo bearing a headline which translates as "One year on: The assassin still at large" in an edition to mark the first anniversary of the terror attack which targetted the magazines offices in Paris on January 7, 2015. One million copies of the special edition will go on sale in France on January 6, on the eve of the first anniversary of the killing of 12 people at the magazine's Paris offices by brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi. / AFP / MARTIN BUREAU

epa05087449 An undated handout picture provided by Majorelle PR Agency on 04 January 2016 shows the cover of the special issue #1224 of the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo with a cartoon of a bearded god carrying a kalashnikov reading '1 an apres. L'assassin court toujours' (lit: One year later.The murderer is still on the run). The frontpage and the editorial by Chief Editor Riss to be published on 06 January 2016 aims to condemn religious fanatism. A series of national commemorations will mark the first anniversary of the terror attacks at the Charlie Hebdo offices that took place on 07 January 2015. EPA/CHARLIE HEBDO/MAJORELLE PR/HANDOUT HANDOUT EDITORIAL USE ONLY/NO SALES

(FILES) This file photo taken on January 11, 2015 shows French President Francois Hollande (R) welcoming German Chancellor Angela Merkel (L) at the Elysee Palace before attending a Unity rally “Marche Republicaine” in Paris in tribute to the 17 victims of a three-day killing spree by homegrown Islamists. The attacks of January 7 to 9, 2015, which started with the massacre of Charlie Hebdo and ended with the assault against the Hyper Cacher market in Paris, have moved France into a new era, as the country faces the threat of jihadists and tensions within society. / AFP / DOMINIQUE FAGET

TOPSHOTS A photo taken on November 16, 2015 in Paris shows the Eiffel Tower illuminated with the colors of the French flag in tribute to the victims of the November 13, 2015 Paris terror attacks. AFP PHOTO / ALAIN JOCARD

A man displays the latest edition of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo shortly after it went on sale on January 14, 2015 in Montpellier. The first issue of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo to be published since a jihadist attack decimated its editorial staff last week was sold out within minutes at kiosks across France. AFP PHOTO / PASCAL GUYOT

A dog with a helmet reading "Je suis Charlie" (I am Charlie) is pictured during a rally in Marseille on January 10, 2015, two days after a deadly attack on the Paris headquarters of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo. Tens of thousands of people staged rallies across France following three days of terror and twin siege dramas that claimed 17 victims, including the victims of the first attack by armed gunmen on the offices of French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris on January 7.AFP PHOTO / BORIS HORVAT

File photo from January 2015 shows people marching in Brussels in tribute to the 17 victims of the three-day killing spree in Paris, France that started with the massacre of Charlie Hebdo and ended with the assault against the Hyper Cacher market. Photo: AFP

Shadow of Paris terror attacks prompt stepped up security for 'Je Suis Charlie' screening at Hong Kong French film festival 

The cover of the Charlie Hebdo magazine after the terror attack in Paris on November 13, reads  "They have weapons, Screw them, We have Champagne". Photo: AFP

Daniel Leconte (left) with his son Emmanuel. They both directed the documentary on the attack on Charlie Hebdo. Photo: Sam Tsang

City Hall will host one showing of the film. Photo: David Wong

In a rally to show solidarity for the victims of the attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices, people stand on the statue of the Republic square next to a graffiti reading "I am Charlie" in Paris. Photo: AFP

French comics festival pays tribute to ‘Charlie Hebdo’ under tight security

Issues of French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, 12 of whose artist were killed in a Paris attack, on display at the festival.Photo: AFP

We are Charlie: reflections on the Charlie Hebdo shooting and the free speech debate

Two roses and placards reading "I am Charlie' in French and Italian are put up in front of the French embassy in Farnese Square, Rome 11 January 2015, in solidarity and honor of the victims of the France terrorist attack. Photo: EPA

French magazine Charlie Hebdo drew a line in the sand for freedom

Illustration: Craig Stephens

News

World