STRASBOURG
A French man will face charges at a criminal court in eastern France’s Strasbourg city for allegedly hailing the deadly Charlie Hebdo attack on a Facebook post.
According to the French daily Le Figaro, an unnamed 30-years-old man allegedly published a photo of a Kalashnikov along with words of praise for Wednesday's attack that left 12 people, including leading French cartoonists and police officers dead.
Police said the man used a pseudonym online, but still managed to track him down. The suspect was interrogated Thursday evening.
According to French Interior Ministry, 3,721 messages condoning the attacks were identified on social networks since Wedneday, French daily Le Monde reported.
French news website Numerama said that under the French penal code, one could get five years in jail and a €75,000 fine for “the fact of directly calling to terrorism or to publicly welcome such acts."
There were three gunmen involved in the worst terror attacks France saw in decades that left 17 people dead. Among them were satirical journalists and cartoonists regarded as legendary across France - editor Stephanie "Charb" Charbonnier, Bernard "Tignou" Verlhac, Jean Cabu and George Wolinski.
Renowned economist and writer Bernard Maris was also killed. The journalists were attacked in the middle of an editorial meeting.
A French Muslim police officer Ahmed Merabet was also brutally shot dead by the gunmen as he came to the defense of Charlie Hebdo.
Police is now on the hunt for suspects associated with the three gunmen, who were all killed Friday.
