THE terrorist attack on the offices of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in which 10 journalists and two police officers were killed is an assault on freedom of expression everywhere. Charlie Hebdo is an iconoclastic publication that satirises all orthodoxy – political, religious and secular. Last Christmas Eve, the paper published a patently disrespectful cartoon of the Virgin Mary and Jesus. In 2011, it designated a special edition Charia Hebdon (for Islamic law Sharia) and attributed the editing to the Prophet Mohammed. Charlie Hebdo’s brand of humour and wit is clearly not...
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