Editorial staff of "Charlie Hebdo" appears again after the attack

For the first time since the attack on the French satirical newspaper "Charlie Hebdo" almost five years ago, the editorial department has again appeared publicly. Editor-in-chief Riss said at a panel discussion at the World Forum for Democracy in the Strasbourg opera that the newspaper had "regained its vitality and dynamism". Previously, the staff of the paper had been received by the audience with great applause and bravo shouts.

The editors used the performance to show their biting humor. For example, a drawing by Philippe Vuillemin portrayed a circus director, with the words "And for the first time in a single piece, the editors of 'Charlie Hebdo' in Strasbourg!"

Three panel discussions focused on topics such as "censorship and threats" and the 50th anniversary of Charlie Hebdo's launch next year. Riss had said before the event that satire was still a fight: "Humor is suspect to many people".

January 7 marks the fifth anniversary of the Islamist attack on "Charlie Hebdo". In 2015, 12 people were killed in the Paris bomb attack, including some of France's best-known caricaturists.

The appearance of the editors and draftsmen in Strasbourg therefore took place under particularly strict security precautions: The members of "Charlie Hebdo" were given police protection, the doors of the opera opened two hours before the start of discussion because of the extensive controls. "The attacks were an absolute shock, so we had to come, just out of sympathy, out of empathy," said one of the spectators.

The event took place in the run-up to the World Forum on Democracy, officially organized by the Council of Europe in Strasbourg from 6 to 8 November under the motto "Information & Democracy".