"Charlie Hebdo" "did not hesitate" to republish the cartoons of Muhammad

Gérard Biard, editor-in-chief of Charlie Hebdo, in November 2015. -

“We didn't hesitate, no”.

Joined this Tuesday noon by

, Gérard Biard, the editor-in-chief of

ensures that there was no procrastination regarding the decision to republish, in the number of the weekly to appear on newsstands Wednesday , the cartoons of Muhammad who had made him a target of the jihadists.

The attack within the editorial staff left 12 people dead on January 7, 2015.

On the front page of this issue, the twelve controversial cartoons, published initially by the Danish daily

in September 2005, then by

in 2006, are accompanied by the cartoon of Muhammad, declaring "It's hard to be loved by idiots ”, signed by Cabu 14 years ago.

"All for that", headlines the satirical weekly on the cover of this new publication.

#une @Charlie_Hebdo_ republishes the cartoons of Muhammad who had made him the target of jihadists #RevueDePresse pic.twitter.com/WmvwKAVcLs

- Jean-François Guyot (@JFGuyot) September 1, 2020

Why republish these images on the eve of the opening of the trial of the January 2015 attacks?

“The reason, it is written in the newspaper, declares Gérard Biard to

.

This is the heart of this trial, the major piece of evidence, it is the motive of the crime, it seems important to publish them.

There are a lot of young people who do not know these cartoons.

They have been published very little because the media have not done their job.

"

"We have always been accused of being obsessed with Islam"

The

, which launched the cartoon competition fifteen years ago, explained to our colleagues at Le Point this summer that it did not plan to publish the controversial drawings again.

“We don't want to erase them, they are part of our history.

But it went on too long.

For years, we were only told about this, this page, this drawing, as if we were hostages, ”argued Jacob Nybroe, the editorial director of

.

"This daily takes the decision it deems opportune, I have no comment to make", slips Gérard Biard.

“We have often been asked since January 2015 to produce other caricatures of Muhammad.

We have always refused to do so (…) because there had to be a good reason to do it, a reason which has meaning and which brings something to the debate, ”writes the editorial staff of

in its new issue.

Gérard Biard completes with

 : “We have always been accused of being obsessed with Islam, but each time we have made cartoons on this theme, it is because the subject was at the heart of the news.

"

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• Mohammed cartoons

• Media

• Trial of the January attacks

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