How many bodyguards does he have?
Six.
Does anyone have more?
Nobody.
Who pays them?
The Republic of France.
Why do you need to protect yourself?
I was a defense attorney for Charlie Hebdo.
The French satirical weekly.
Yes, twelve of its editors were killed by two jihadists in a rifle attack in 2015. During the trial of their accomplices, in 2020, I made my plea.
What did you claim?
That a free society protects free expression and the right to shit on God.
What does “shit” mean?
Criticize, question, debate, ridicule, mock, satirize or caricature without limits any idea, belief, religion or divinity, even the most sacred of the sacred.
Can I satirize democracy, then?
Of course! Satirizing the idea of ??democracy, questioning it, debating it and criticizing it… is what will strengthen it the most and best.
Satirize without any criminal punishment.
Without legal penalties or punishments from anyone.
Jihadist Islamists disagree.
For them, satirizing Muhammad or Allah deserves the death penalty.
Is that dictated by the Koran?
Andalusian Islamists of the thirteenth century ruled that of blasphemy, not the Koran.
What is blasphemy?
Drawing or mentioning Muhammad or Allah.
How would you counter a jihadist?
“It is wrong to kill for drawing things.”
Simple to understand!
Many think: “They asked for it.”
Say something to those who think so.
To think that is monstrous, barbaric, aberrant, savage, inhuman, uncivilized.
Who were the two assassins against Charlie Hebdo?
The brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi: Parisians, thirty-somethings, Islamist fanatics who believed they were avenging the Prophet Muhammad.
For what affront did they think they would avenge him?
From the publication of some cartoons.
How many people did they murder?
They murdered twelve people with assault rifles and wounded eleven others, all wonderful journalists and cartoonists.
Is Charlie Hebdo still published?
Clear! His director, Riss, and his journalists are protected by bodyguards. His writing is now in a bunker, at an unknown address. For security.
Blessed police protection.
Of course it is, but at the same time… what a pity that we need it to continue to have freedom of expression in France!
What should happen in France to not need that protection?
That the fanatics, rigorists, literalists of religious texts understand once and for all that God does not speak in the ear of anyone.
There are already non-fanatical Muslims.
And they are the first hated by the fans. Muslim defenders of the right to caricature like Amady Ratisi, Kamal Daoud, Mohamed Sifaoun, Maguib Mafouz, Salman Rushdie… they are sensational! They are hope.
How do you manage not to be a fan?
Understanding something very important: beliefs can never demand respect. Only people have that right!
And not religions?
I only respect people, never ideas, beliefs or opinions! No idea, opinion, belief or religion can claim not to be discussed, criticized, ridiculed, caricatured. No faith or idea has the right not to be attacked!
I take note: all untouchable dogmas have to be touched, without exception.
The friends of Charlie Hebdo and of all media in a free society live by this luminous maxim!
Do you draw comics, too?
I am a comic book writer. Ours, that of the free, is to laugh, draw, enjoy our freedoms, live with our heads held high before the fanatics who would like to impose their neuroses and frustrations on us.
Will the fans learn one day?
Let’s teach our children to live like this, to enjoy freedom and to laugh at everything.
I’m afraid we’re teaching them to take offense at this and that…
Teach them, instead of being foolishly offended, to reply with good humor and wit.
But isn’t it normal to ask for respect?
That “you owe me respect” is a mafia phrase. I will never tell it! I defend the right to be disrespectful and I will never give in.
How was the criminal process?
Thirteen people indicted with jail sentences, connected to the Kouachi through Koulibali, for attacking a hypermarket. “We like death more than you like life,” they repeated.
That gives a lot of strength.
More strength confers preferring life.
