Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly, republished the controversial cartoons on Prophet Muhammed as the trial of those accused of the massacre at its official start.
“We will never lie down. We will never give up,” its director Laurent “Riss” Sourisseau wrote in the editorial in its latest publication.
Two Islamist gunmen, brothers Said and Cherif Kouchi massacred 12 people at the satirical daily’s office on January 7, 2015. Those who died included some of France’s most popular cartoonists.
The perpetrators of the attack, including 14 accomplices, who also targeted a Jewish supermarket, are set to go on trial in Paris on Wednesday.
The latest edition of the magazine shows a dozen of cartoons first published by the Danish daily Jullands-Posten in 2005 which Charlie Hebdo republished in 2006. These cartoons had caused great anger in the Muslim world.
Paying homage to the fallen, the magazine depicted in the center the cartoonist who drew the controversial cartoon, Jean Cabut, also known as Cabu. “All of this, just for that,” its front end headline said.
Charlie Hebdo claims the publishing of the controversial cartoon is essential, as the trial starts on the 2nd of September.
With this, people are seeing the editorial as a champion of free speech, while others feel it has crossed the line too often.
As the trial starts, France has united in grief with the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie (I am Charlie) going viral on social media.