Press release, 08.01.2015

YABLOKO activists laid flowers to the ambassay of France in memory of the victims of the attack on the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The coldblooded murder of journalists and policemen is the extremists’ attempt to distebilize the society by wreaking the havoc and confusion.

The only weapon the creative team of the magazine used was satire. But for terrorists it turned out to be more dangerous than and true weapon carrying death.

The attack on the journalists is the attack on the freedom of speech, thoughts and the the right to express them publicly. But the fact that hundreds of thousands people spontaneously went to a rally of solidarity with the victims’ families and the French civil society proves that one cannot abuse the freedom of speech with force.

YABLOKO condemns the terrorist attack committed by the radical islamists in the office of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo and expresses condolences to the friend and relatives of the victims”, stated YABLOKO Chair Sergei Mitrokhin.

Grigory Yavlinsky sent to President of France Francois Hollande and Jean-Maurice Ripert, Ambassador of France to Russia, a telegramme of condolence in connection with the attack on the offices of magazine Charlie Hebdo.

“Anti-civilization terrorismis a terrible threat both to Europe and Russiaas a part of Europe.We are bearing a shared responsibility for the protection of our world”, runs in the telegram.

The attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine office took place on January 5. Twelve people including he editor-in-chief and several policemen became victims. The President of France Francois Hollande called it a terrorist attack.