Jersey represented among millions saying “Je Suis Charlie”

Monday 12 January 2015

Assistant Chief Minister Philip Ozouf was one of millions of marchers demonstrating solidarity for the Charlie Hebdo cartoonists slain by Islamic terrorists at an historic demonstration in Paris yesterday.

World leaders converged on the French capital for the march, which saw up to two million people take to the streets of Paris – it was estimated that across the republic, 3.7 million were demonstrating in an immense signal of solidarity following Wednesday’s murders.

French President Francois Hollande led world leaders including UK Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.

Senator Ozouf – whose ministerial remit includes the finance industry, the digital sector and innovation – tweeted during the day from the march, saying that the event had been an emotional one, writing: “I was deeply moved by the unprecedented demonstration of unity and solidarity in Paris today #NousSommesCharlie #Jersey”.

In total, 17 people were killed during three days of attacks that started when gunmen stormed into the offices of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday and slaughtered staff. The magazine had been targeted before by terrorists for publishing satirical images of Muhammed and Allah, but had vowed not to give into threats or violence.

Their deaths launched the Twitter hashtag #JeSuisCharlie, which had in days become the most tweeted slogan of all time.