Editorial: Freedom of expression

The attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo is an attack on free speech.

The brutal terror attack on Charlie Hebdo magazine and execution of its journalists and cartoonists in Paris must be condemned in the strongest terms.

Any terrorist action - big or small - anywhere in the world, is deplorable, but this attack has an added barb. It is an attack against the very fabric of democracy - freedom of expression.

A deliberate, targeted attack on this satirical magazine was designed to strike a blow for radical Islam and as a revenge for perceived insults against what they believe in.

But all this has done is unite right-thinking and decent people to stand up against this tyranny and for the right to express oneself.

This uprising against terrorism is not an attack on Muslims as a whole. Most people realise that, like any other broad group, there are many Muslims who are peace-loving and who are aghast at this barbaric attack.

This is about terrorists fighting for a version of their religion that they have created for their own ends.

The world changed forever on 9/11. It was a day we all realised our collective vulnerability.

Yesterday was the day people stood up - thousands of them in Paris and around the world - against an attack on a basic freedom. Without the right to independent thought and the freedom to express it, we have nothing.

The media is a symbol of that freedom, and cartoonists and satirical publications have a part to play in the social and political commentary of any country and, indeed, the world. The media will not be silenced.

Je suis Charlie!