Dominican solidarity with Charlie Hebdo and free speech
Through Twitter, President Danilo Medina expressed condolences and solidarity with France on the terrorist act against the Charlie Hebdo weekly satire magazine. "We firmly condemn this double act of violence in which not only persons have been attacked, but also freedom of press. The government and the Dominican people join in solidarity with France against this terrible terrorist act against the Charlie Hebdo magazine," stated his Twitter account.
A vigil and solidarity event for freedom of speech and press is organized for this evening, Thursday 8 January 2015 from 8 to 10pm at the Parque Duarte on Padre Billini in Santo Domingo's Colonial City. People are asked to attend dressed in black to protest the killing of 12 people in Paris on Wednesday, 7 January 2015 by extremists.
A Facebook comment from one of the organizers reveals that one of the two police officers who were killed in the attack, Frank Brinsolaro, served as a security officer at the French Embassy in Santo Domingo from 2000 to 2003.
The killings occurred during a gun attack on the offices of French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris. The 12 victims include editor Stephane Charbonnier and seven of his staff including cartoonists and journalists, as well as the two policemen.
As reported by the BBC, today, Thursday 8 January the French Police were still hunting for two brothers, 34-year old Said and 32-year old Cherif Kouachi, in connection with the attack, after another suspect, 18-year old Hamyd Mourad reportedly handed himself in.
The New York Times writes that the victims included four prominent cartoonists who have repeatedly lampooned Islamic terrorists and the Prophet Muhammad, leading to speculation that the attack on the newspaper, Charlie Hebdo, was the work of Islamic militants acting alone or in concert with extremist groups.
One of the policemen had been assigned to protect the publication and was among the first victims, a second had responded to reports of the shooting and was killed outside the office by the fleeing suspects, the Paris police reported.
As it happened: Charlie Hebdo attack - BBC News
Attack on Charlie Hebdo: Long live comics, and long live freedom of the press - Boing Boing
Charlie Hebdo: las controvertidas portadas del semanario franc?s | RPP NOTICIAS
https://www.facebook.com/events/1535862976691346/
