Charlie Hebdo Republishes Controversial Mohammad Cartoons as Terror Trial Begins

"The hatred that struck us is still there and, since 2015, it has taken the time to mutate, to change its appearance to go unnoticed and relentlessly pursue its merciless crusade. We will never lie down. We will never give up," says Riss, editor-in-chief of the satirical weekly.

On Tuesday, Charlie Hebdo republished the twelve caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad on the front page with the title "All that for this". In 2006, the weekly had published these drawings already published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on September 30, 2005. A caricature of the prophet signed by the cartoonist Cabu, one of the twelve victims of the January 7, 2015 attack, is also featured in this issue.

"We have often been asked since January 2015 to produce other caricatures of Muhammad. We have always refused, not that it is forbidden, the law allows us to do so, but because there had to be a good reason to do so, a reason that made sense and brought something to the debate," explains the editorial staff of the newspaper. For the Charlie Hebdo team, reproducing these caricatures this week at the opening of the trial of the January 2015 attacks seemed essential.

This issue has elicited a reaction from the president of the French Council of the Muslim Faith (CFCM), Mohammed Moussaoui. "The freedom to caricature is guaranteed for all, the freedom to love or not to love (these caricatures, ed.) as well. Nothing can justify violence," he said to the AFP. "I find this idea remarkable. We must show that freedom of expression is still alive!" comments on RMC the former director of Charlie Hebdo, Philippe Val.