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12 Aug, 2016 17:28

Charlie Hebdo reports death threats to police after publishing naked Muslims cartoon

Charlie Hebdo reports death threats to police after publishing naked Muslims cartoon

The controversial satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, which has previously been the target of Islamist terrorists, has reportedly received threats warning of new attacks since publishing a cartoon of naked Muslims on its cover.

Charlie Hebdo’s latest issue, which was released on Wednesday, features the image of a man and a woman on a beach with exposed genitals. The woman is depicted wearing a shoulder-length veil, while the man has a long beard. The caption reads “The reform of Islam. Muslims, loosen up” (“Musulmans de-coin-cez-vous”).

After the issue was released, the magazine’s staff received a written message saying “You will die,” Le Parisien reported. Charlie Hebdo’s co-shareholder, Eric Portheault, told the French newspaper that a complaint has been filed with Paris police, while stressing that his magazine has been receiving death threats since the beginning of summer, and “it does not stop.”

An investigation has been opened over “death threats materialized in writing.”

The satirical weekly has already had to seek assistance from police due to threats recently, as over the past several weeks it has received some sixty “chilling” messages and insults on its Facebook page, according to Le Parisien. Some were received during the UEFA 2016 football championship after a cartoon was published of French footballer Antoine Griezmann depicted in the shape of a vibrator.

The satirical magazine has found itself in hot water several times before, having published a number of provocative images related to the touchiest issues, which the international community did not seem to find funny. Caricatures of a Syrian toddler washed ashore amid the refugee and migrant crisis in Europe, as well as a cartoon of a Russian plane crash that killed over 200 people, have appeared on the magazine’s pages and sparked public outrage.

READ MORE: Tried to join ISIS? Cleared ‘getaway driver’ of Charlie Hebdo attacks detained again

Charlie Hebdo’s staff has been working under police protection since January of 2015, when the satirical magazine’s Paris office was attacked by Islamist gunmen who killed 12 people. The terrorists claimed the attack was in revenge for the magazine publishing controversial cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed.

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