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Ian Hislop Charlie Hebdo Private Eye

Ian Hislop mourns Charlie Hebdo 'attack on free speech' as French media vow the magazine will 'live on'

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By John McCarthy, Opinion Editor

January 7, 2015 | 2 min read

Ian Hislop, editor of UK satire magazine Private Eye, has offered his condolences to the friends and families of those killed in the Charlie Hebdo massacre which saw 12 people killed on Wednesday morning in Paris.

Hislop stated that the satire magazine, had paid the price for making full use of its freedom of speech with its close-to-the-bone commentary, aided by some of France’s top cartoonists, four of whom perished in the attack.

He said: “I am appalled and shocked by this horrific attack - a murderous attack on free speech in the heart of Europe. I offer my condolences to the families and friends of those killed - the cartoonists, journalists and those who were trying to protect them.

“They paid a very high price for exercising their comic liberty. Very little seems funny today.”

The French media in particular have also decided to back Charlie Hebdo, swearing in a joint statement that the magazine will “continue to live… to defend the principles of independence, freedom of thought and expression, the guarantors of our democracy”.

The Charlie Hebdo offices had previously been firebombed in 2011 for tweeting a cartoon of the prophet Mohammed.

Social media users came together too, using #JesuisCharlie (meaning 'we are all Charlie') over 105,000 times.

Ian Hislop Charlie Hebdo Private Eye

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