Charlie Hebdo’s editor Stephane Charbonnier, known as ‘Charbs’, was among the 12 killed on Wednesday.
Despite the fatal shootings of 10 Charlie Hebdo staff members on 7 January, surviving employees at the French satirical magazine have vowed that they will publish next week, with the hope of setting circulation records.
Wednesday morning saw the massacre of 10 people at Charlie Hebdo’s office in Paris – as well as two police officers – in what is being described as a terrorist attack on democracy and freedom of expression.
Famed for its controversial left-wing take on politics and current affairs, the magazine first came under attack in 2011 when its office was fire-bombed and its website hacked. Both the 2011 and 2015 attacks have been linked to the magazine’s publishing of a cartoon featuring the Islamic Prophet Mohammed.
Charlie Hebdo’s current weekly circulation is estimated at about 60,000; however, the weekly is hoping to push the million mark when it publishes its next edition on Wednesday 14 January.
According to the Guardian, Google has said that it will donate €250,000 (£195,000) to help support the publication; a further €250,000 is reported to have been pledged by French newspaper publishers, to be taken by a donation tax.
Among the victims from Wednesday were the magazine’s editor, Stephane Charbonnier, cartoonists Jean Cabut, Bernard Verlhac, Philippe Honore and Georges Wolinski, and economist Bernard Maris.
Charbonnier, known as Charbs, had always been fearless in his stance on the magazine’s satire, despite facing criticism and previous threats. He told France’s Le Monde newspaper: “I don’t have kids, no wife, no car, no credit.
“Maybe it’s a little pompous to say, but I’d rather die standing than live on my knees.”
Since the attack, people from around the world have taken to social media to express solidarity with Charlie Hebdo using the hashtag #JeSuisCharlie. The hashtag has been tweeted almost 3 million times.
