Terror in Paris: Memory of the victims of Charlie Hebdo on January 7th

On January 7, 2025, the world is reminiscent of one of the most tragic terrorist attacks in the history of France. On this day the Black Forest Bode Charlie Hebdo , who occurred in 2015 and in which twelve people were murdered. This attack was the deadliest attack in France since the attack on the Strasbourg - Paris express train.

On January 7, 2015, the brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi carried out an Islamistically motivated terrorist attack on the editorial team of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. With this cruel act, eleven people were fatally hit, including a police officer, while several other people were injured. The perpetrators later committed themselves to Al-Qaida in Yemen, which makes the background of the attack even more dramatic.

consequences of the attack

The acachi brothers' actions led to another fatal incident on January 8th when a policewoman was murdered in the south of Paris. On January 9th, another perpetrator, Amedy Coulibaly, attacked the Hyper Cacher supermarket, where he killed four people. Coulibaly confessed to the Islamic state by phone and said that his approach was connected to the original attack on Charlie Hebdo .

The search for the perpetrators finally ended on January 9 with a change of shooting in which the Kouachi brothers were shot by security forces. The attack and the subsequent events led to a significant increase in security measures in France and a global outcry for freedom of expression, embodied by the statement of solidarity "Je Suis Charlie". On January 11, 2015, around 1.5 million people took part in a funeral march in Paris to commemorate the victims.

In addition to the murders, the attack on Charlie Hebdo led to an intensive discourse on freedom of expression and dealing with Islamist terrorism in Europe. In December 2020, a Paris court sentenced several accused for aid, including Ali Riza Polat, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison, as reported.