MOSCOW, January 12 (Sputnik) — Caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad and materials lampooning religion and politics are planned to be published when the next issue of France’s satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, with a staggering 1 million copies slated, the magazine’s lawyer said on Monday.
“Je suis Charlie" — is a state of your mind, it is also about your right to blaspheme… "Je suis Charlie" is about your right to criticize religion because there is nothing wrong about it. You have no right to criticize a Jew for being a Jew, a Muslim for being a Muslim a Christian for being a Christian, but you are absolutely free to say anything, even dirty things – and that’s exactly what we do – about Christianity, Judaism and Islam,” Malka added.
The next issue of Charlie Hebdo will number a million copies. Its average print run is 60,000. Richard Malka said the journalists were now working hard to prepare the issue for Wednesday. The front cover will likely be ready by Monday evening.
France has seen a wave of extremist violence over the past week. Last Wednesday, 12 people were killed in a terrorist attack on the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly magazine in Paris. On Thursday, a policewoman was killed in the Montrouge region of Paris. On Friday four captives were killed in a hostage-taking incident in a Paris supermarket.
The Sunday march in Paris was attended by over 3 million people, included 40 world leaders, calling for an end to extremist violence. The march is one of the largest gatherings of people in recent French history.