French President François Hollande, On Attack At The Office Of The Weekly Newspaper Charlie Hebdo

Paris, January 7, 2015

My dear compatriots,

Today, France was attacked at its very heart in Paris, at the offices of a newspaper. This extremely violent shooting killed 12 people and injured several others; highly talented cartoonists, courageous columnists were killed. Their impertinence and independence influenced generations and generations of French people. I want to tell them that we will continue to defend this message of freedom, in their name.

This cowardly attack also killed two police officers, the very ones who were responsible for protecting Charlie Hebdo and its editorial staff, who have been threatened for years by obscurantism and who defended the freedom of expression.

These men, this woman, died because of their vision of France, namely freedom. I would like, on your behalf, to express our wholehearted gratitude to the families, to those affected, to the injured, to the friends, to all those who were deeply hurt today by these cowardly murders. They are now our heroes and that's why I have decided that tomorrow will be a day of national mourning. There will be a moment of silence at 12.00 p.m. in all government offices and I encourage everyone to join in. Flags will be flown at half-mast for three days.

Today it is the Republic as a whole that has been attacked. The Republic equals freedom of expression; the Republic equals culture, creation, it equals pluralism and democracy. That is what the assassins were targeting. It equals the ideal of justice and peace that France promotes everywhere on the international stage, and the message of peace and tolerance that we defend - as do our soldiers - in the fight against terrorism and fundamentalism.

France has received messages of solidarity and fraternity from countries around the globe, and we must fully appreciate them. Our response must be commensurate with the crime committed against us, first by seeking the perpetrators of this act of infamy, and making sure they are arrested, then tried and punished very severely. And everything will be done to apprehend them. The investigation is now moving forward under the authority of the Ministry of Justice.

We must also protect all public spaces. The government has put in place what is known as the Vigipirate Plan's «attack» level (1), which means that security forces will be deployed wherever there is the hint of a threat.

Finally, we ourselves must be mindful of the fact that our best weapon is our unity: the unity of all our fellow citizens in this difficult moment. Nothing can divide us, nothing must pit us against one another, nothing must separate us. Tomorrow I will convene the presidents of both assemblies as well as the political forces represented in Parliament to demonstrate our common resolve.

France is great when it is capable of rising to the test, rising to a level that has always enabled it to overcome hardships. Freedom will always be stronger than barbarity. France has always vanquished its enemies when it has stood united and remained true to its values. That is what I ask you to do: to join together, all of you, in every way possible; that must be our response.

Let us join together at this difficult moment, and we shall win, because we are fully capable of believing in our destiny, and nothing can weaken our resolve.

Let us join together.

Long live the Republic and long live France! ./.

(1) Under the Vigipirate Plan, the armed forces contribute to averting threats and taking preventive measures against potential terrorist action. Since 2014, there have been only two levels of alert, with the «attack» level being activated for a perceived imminent attack.