Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical magazine, unleashed a fresh wave of death threats last week with the publication of an edition showing two naked Muslims, along with the words ‘Musulmans … Dé-coin-cez-vous ! which loosely translates to ‘Muslims, free yourselves!’
According to this report, the Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into threats against publication, which was the target of a sophisticated terror attack in 2015.
Office spokeswoman Agnes Thibault-Lecuivre said that the investigation for “written death threats” follows about a dozen postings in July and August on the paper’s Facebook page, which carried a cover cartoon mocking Muslims at the beach.
The investigation came after the newspaper filed a police complaint on Thursday, a shareholder said,
Eric Portheault said the threats began in mid-July but escalated last Tuesday after the magazine released its latest edition. The threats “do not stop,” Portheault said.
He added:
We cannot let threats, insults, racist statements come to pass. It’s unacceptable. Especially death threats. On August 10, we were told [there would be]’an attack in 20 days.
The threats began in July after the release of a drawing for the Euro 2016 championships depicting French footballer Antoine Griezmann as a vibrator with a message that translates to “stimulate us.”
In June, a separate complaint was opened for other written threats against the newspaper.
An attack on the Charlie Hebdo newsroom killed 12 people on January 7, 2015. Two brothers claiming to be members if al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility, saying it was in retaliation for the newspaper’s depictions of the Prophet Mohammed.
The attack was part of a three-day assault waged by brothers Cherif and Said Kouachi and their accomplice Amedy Coulibaly who killed four Jewish men at a kosher supermarket in Paris after taking dozens hostage.
That attack, which Coulibaly claimed he carried out in the name of the Islamic State terror group, occurred two days after the magazine massacre and a day after Coulibaly shot dead a policewoman, also in the capital.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn