A Paris court on Thursday sentenced a Pakistani man to 30 years in prison for trying to murder two people outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo in 2020 with a butcher knife.
When he carried out the attack, Zaheer Mahmood, 29, mistakenly believed the satirical newspaper was still based in the building, which a decade ago was attacked by Islamists for publishing caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.
In fact, the newspaper took action after the attack, in which 12 people died, including eight members of the newspaper’s editorial staff. The 2015 murders shocked France and sparked intense debate over freedom of expression and religion.
Originally from rural Pakistan, Mahmood arrived illegally in France in the summer of 2019. The court had previously heard how Mahmood was influenced by radical Pakistani preacher Khadim Hussain Rizvi, who had called for the beheading of blasphemers to “avenge the Prophet.” ”.
Mahmood was found guilty of attempted murder and terrorist conspiracy, and was banned from setting foot on French soil again.
