PARIS: A French terrorist, who was close to the brothers behind the 2015 massacre at the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, went on trial in Paris on Monday.
Peter Cherif, also known as Abou Hamza, was arrested in Djibouti in 2018 after years of allegedly fighting in the ranks of Al-Qaeda in the Middle East.
He is being tried for terrorism-related offenses allegedly committed between 2011 and 2018, and the 2011 kidnapping of three French aid workers in Yemen.
In 2015, Cherif was placed on a US blacklist as a member of the Yemen-based militant group Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).
Cherif, 42, was linked to a Paris terrorist cell and was named in the enquiry into the fatal January 2015 attack on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, due to his regular contact with the perpetrators, brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi.
The massacre claimed the lives of 12 people and sent shock waves across France.
Cherif has not been formally charged over the attack but his potential involvement is expected to be at the center of the trial.
Investigating judges believe that he “facilitated the integration into AQAP of one of the Kouachi brothers, most probably Cherif” and that he had knowledge of the plan to carry out an attack in France
According to several witnesses, including Cherif’s late girlfriend, AQAP advised foreign fighters in Yemen to return to their countries of origin to stage attacks.
Peter Cherif is also believed to have maintained contact with Cherif Kouachi on his return to France.
He has denied having knowledge of the planned attack.
In 2020, he was a witness during the trial over the 2015 attacks and claimed to have had “nothing to do” with the massacre.
According to Sefen Guez Guez, one of his lawyers, Cherif “knows that the Charlie Hebdo trial weighs heavily in the balance but he will come forward with a sincere statement.”
Cherif faces life in prison if convicted.
He grew up in the 19th district of Paris and converted to Islam in 2003.
French terrorist linked to Charlie Hebdo attackers goes on trial
https://arab.news/2w4bq
French terrorist linked to Charlie Hebdo attackers goes on trial
- Peter Cherif was arrested in Djibouti in 2018 after years of allegedly fighting in the ranks of Al-Qaeda
Lebanon’s official media scale back Hezbollah coverage after Cabinet ban
- Information Minister Paul Morcos instructs outlets to comply with government decision
- Journalists, social media urged to avoid content that could provoke hate speech, incitement
BEIRUT: Lebanon has begun implementing a Cabinet decision taken earlier this month to ban Hezbollah’s security and military activities by scaling back coverage of the group on official media platforms.
The measure, which was described in political circles as a significant and bold step, came after decades during which news about the party and the speeches of its leaders were published verbatim and broadcast live through official media outlets, like the state-run National News Agency, TV station Tele Liban and Radio Lebanon.
“No one is imposing censorship,” an official source told Arab News.
“Rather, there is a commitment to the decisions of the state. It is no longer possible for a speech that attacks the Lebanese government and the state to be published through its official media outlets.”
Information Minister Paul Morcos issued a circular instructing directors of official media outlets to comply with the government’s decision to ban the broadcast of speeches or statements by Hezbollah Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem and statements issued by the group’s armed wing, particularly when they contain criticism of the state.
Morcos also ordered that Hezbollah statements be handled in the same manner as those issued by other political parties, meaning they should not be published verbatim. He further instructed media outlets to avoid using the term “Islamic resistance,” except when it appears directly within Hezbollah statements.
The first manifestations of the decision were Tele Liban’s abstention from live broadcasting a speech by Qassem and a statement made on Tuesday by lawmaker Mohammed Raad, who heads the Hezbollah parliamentary bloc.
The group’s supporters described the move as an attempt “to restrict the resistance, Hezbollah and its leadership in the official media.”
Some argued on social media that preventing the use of terms like “resistance” or “holy warriors (Mujahedin)” and replacing them with expressions such as “Hezbollah” and “fighters” was “aimed at brainwashing and stripping the party of its resistance identity.”
During a Cabinet session on Thursday, Morcos raised the issue of content circulating on social media that incites murder and sectarian strife. This comes against the backdrop of the war that Hezbollah waged from Lebanon against Israel on March 2, without state approval, which led to a sharp division in Lebanese public opinion.
Morcos, who is also Cabinet spokesperson, said after the session that what was being published “exceeds the bounds of freedom of opinion, the press and expression.”
Prime Minister Nawaf Salam considered it to fall under the penal code, specifically regarding crimes that harm national unity, he said, and that “we are against strife in all its forms.”
Morcos also urged journalists, influencers and social media users to remain aware of the sensitivity of the current situation and to avoid content that could provoke strife, hate speech or incitement.
He acknowledged, however, that, according to a legal study, he has no authority over social media, even on media-related matters.
“The Ministry of Information does not exercise a guardianship role and lacks judicial police powers,” he said.
“These authorities rest with the public prosecution offices, which are overseen by the minister of justice and fall within the domain of criminal law and criminal prosecution.”
The ban was agreed during a Cabinet session on March 2, after Hezbollah launched six rockets from Lebanese territory toward northern Israel, the first such attack since the November 2024 ceasefire, prompting retaliatory strikes.
The Cabinet reaffirmed that “the decision of war and peace rests exclusively with the Lebanese state and its constitutional institutions,” and called on Hezbollah to hand over its weapons to the state while limiting its role to political activity within the legal and constitutional framework.
