PARIS

Charlie Hebdo, the French satirical weekly, has provoked fresh controversy with a new front-page cartoon which marks one year since gunmen murdered 12 people in an attack on its Paris office.

One million copies of a 32-page special edition have been prepared for Wednesday, with a front-cover cartoon depicting a bloodstained, bearded man – representing God – with a gun across his shoulder.

A caption reads: "One year on, the murderer is still on the loose."

The cartoon was drawn by the magazine’s current editor, Laurent Sourisseau AKA ‘Riss’, who also wrote an accompanying editorial reportedly defending secularism and the right "to laugh at the religious".

However, some figures have criticized the choice of image.

Abdallah Zekri, president of the Observatory Against Islamophobia, told BFMTV on Monday that the cartoon "is violent and very insulting toward religion".

Nicolas Henin, a French journalist who was held captive for 10 months by Daesh in Syria, described the cover as “disastrous”.

"Catastrophic cover #Charlie anniversary: bringing terrorism to its religious dimension is a disaster," Henin tweeted.

"This is exactly what the terrorists want: to be given religious legitimacy. It’s not gods who are the killers but those who claim to be acting for him," he added.

Christine Boutin, head of France’s small Christian Democrat Party tweeted: "The front page of the Charlie Hebdo anniversary and what is it referring to? Religions? It's becoming an obsession. This tragedy deserved better."

The satirical magazine – with a history of publishing irreverent depictions of the Prophet Muhammad and other religious figures – made world headlines in Jan. 7 last year when two gunmen targeted its Paris office, killing 12 people.

Among those murdered were its editor Stephane Charbonnier AKA ‘Charb’, a number of prominent cartoonists and journalists, a building maintenance worker and two police officers.

Two days later, attackers murdered five more people in a French kosher supermarket.

Following the attack, one of Charlie Hebdo’s top cartoonists, Renald Luzier – known as Luz – drew a front-cover picture depicting the Prophet Muhammad holding a sign reading ‘Je Suis Charlie’ (I Am Charlie) sign.

In April, Luzier vowed he would no longer draw any cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Luzier resigned in September saying he had been too traumatized by the attack to continue.

Following the killings, donations poured in for the satirical magazine which had been close to shutting down as sales had dipped.

Currently, a team of around 25 staff are working in new offices, the location of which are a closely guarded secret.

The magazine’s financial director, Eric Portheault, told France 3 that "it is dangerous to work for Charlie Hebdo; it is dangerous to draw for Charlie Hebdo".

"Working in a location that is shielded from top to bottom with security officers who follow you in your every move, with police in front of your house, [your] headquarters... it is very special," he said.

However, Portheault insisted that "there is no question of self-censorship otherwise it would mean they [the attackers] have won".

"If what is happening in the news leads us to draw the Prophet Muhammad again, we would do it," he added.

Official commemorations

Meanwhile, French President Francois Hollande led a series of tributes on Tuesday to the victims of the attacks.

He unveiled plaques with the names of the victims at the sites where they were killed.

Hollande will give a speech on Jan. 7 at police headquarters in Paris to pay tribute to the officers killed in the attacks and honor those who took part in security operations.

On Saturday, he will head to the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket, scene of a second deadly attack on Jan. 9 last year.

On Jan.10, a public ceremony of rememberance will be held at Paris’ iconic Place de la Republique.