Charlie Hebdo post attack issue: 3 million copies depicting Prophet Muhammad in 16 languages

This week’s three million copies of Charlie Hebdo will feature a cartoon depicting the Prophet Muhammad holding a “Je suis Charlie” sign, the magazine lawyer said.

Above the cartoon are the words “All is forgiven”. This comes after Islamist gunmen raided the magazine’s Paris office on January 7, killing 12 people.

A total of 17 people were killed in three days of terror attacks in the French capital last week.

The special issue, to come out on Wednesday, January 14, will also be offered “in 16 languages” for readers around the world, one of its columnists, Patrick Pelloux, said.

The 44-year-old newspaper has always sought to break taboos with its provocative cartoons on all religions, current events and prominent personalities.

Charlie Hebdo’s distributors, MLP, had initially planned to print one million copies of the issue currently being put together by survivors of the shooting.

But MLP said demand from France and abroad has been huge and that 3 million copies would now be released.

The original paper printed at 60,000 copies a week, selling 30,000.

The latest cover of Charlie Hebdo has been published in advance by French media. Outside France, the Washington Post, Germany’s Frankfurter Allgemeine, Corriere della Sera in Italy and the UK’s Guardian are among publications to show the cartoon.

The slogan in French “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) was widely used following the January 7 attack on the magazine, as people sought to show their support.

Charlie Hebdo‘s lawyer Richard Malka told France Info radio: “We will not give in. The spirit of <<I am Charlie>> means the right to blaspheme.”

Survivors of the massacre have been working on the magazine from the offices of the French daily newspaper Liberation with equipment loaned by the Le Monde daily and cash handed out by other French and even foreign media.

Five of Charlie Hebdo‘s cartoonists – including the editor – were killed in the attack.

The new edition will be created “only by people from Charlie Hebdo”, its financial director, Eric Portheault, told AFP news agency.

Contributions from other cartoonists were declined.

Wednesday’s edition aims to raise fresh cash to ensure the survival of the weekly, with all revenue from the sales, at 3 euros ($3.75) a copy, going to Charlie Hebdo once the cost of the paper has been deducted.

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