Cartoon of Muhammad causes riots
On 7 January 2015 gunmen killed 12 people at the Paris office of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. The Guardian said the magazine "has attracted the opprobrium of some Muslim groups for its regular depictions of the prophet Muhammad". The cover of its first edition after the attack showed "a cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad weeping while holding a sign saying 'I am Charlie'" (BBC).
Violent protests against the cartoon followed in Niger, where police said "at least 10 people have been killed and 45 churches set on fire". Five died in the capital Niamey and five in Zinder. Hotels and bars were burned, a Christian school and orphanage were torched, and more than 170 people were injured. The government declared three days of mourning (BBC, 19 Jan 2015; AP). In Zinder, protesters raided shops run by Christians and attacked the French cultural centre. The BBC said protests also took place in Pakistan, where those in Karachi turned violent, as well as Sudan, Algeria and Somalia.
Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou said: "Those who loot these places of worship, who desecrate them and kill their Christian compatriots... have understood nothing of Islam" (BBC, 17 Jan 2015).
Australia: Prime Minister Tony Abbott called the attack "an unspeakable atrocity" and said: "Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of a free society … if you don't like something, you don't read it; you don't kill people you disagree with" (Guardian). More than a thousand people held a vigil at Sydney's Martin Place, and more than 1,000 gathered at Federation Square in Melbourne (Guardian/AAP).
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