STATEMENT
Cebu Citizens-Press Council (CCPC)
Jan. 8, 2015
The Jan. 7 terrorist attack on the French weekly "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris was an act of violence that people who value peace and freedom must condemn.
As response to cartoons and articles the magazine printed, it was grossly disproportionate and brutal. At least 12 people, including journalists and police: a toll that's normal only in a war zone. A perversion of the right of reply.
What could the journalists defend themselves with? Their laptops against Kalashnikovs and a rocket launcher?
The massacre couldn't be justified except in the most twisted and distorted reasoning.
Yet the question of respect for other people's religion, along with the issue of free speech, may be reassessed.
How far could journalists use satire and parody in discussing things that men and women of faith hold dear and sacred? How much extremism in journalism could be used to fight extremism in religion?
Pachico A. Seares
Executive Director