仏紙シャルリー、対テロ作戦中の仏軍ヘリ事故を風刺し怒り招く

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】西アフリカ・マリで対テロ夜間作戦中のフランス軍のヘリコプター同士が衝突し兵士13人が死亡した事故をめぐり、仏風刺週刊紙シャルリー・エブドが風刺画を掲載し、怒りの声が上がっている。（写真は資料写真）
　シャルリー・エブドは２０１５年にイスラム過激派の攻撃の標的となった風刺週刊紙。今回、マリの事故を題材とした風刺画５点をウェブサイトに掲載した。
　うち一点は、仏国旗で覆われたひつぎの前にエマニュエル・マクロン大統領が立つイラストに、「私が入隊したのは、突出した存在になりたかったからだ」との文章が添えられている。この文言は、仏軍が最近兵士の勧誘に用いているスローガンだ。
　仏軍のティエリー・ブルクハルト参謀総長は先月２９日、ツイッターへの投稿で「この絵を見て、深い憤りと理解しがたい思いを抱いた」と表明。さらにシャルリー・エブドの編集者に宛てた公開書簡で、遺族の服喪期間を汚す行為だと非難した。
　だが、同紙編集者のローラン・スリソー氏は１日、仏軍の対テロ任務の重要性は認識していると述べつつも、同紙の「風刺精神」を擁護。「私たちの新聞は、時に挑発的なその風刺精神に忠実であらねばならない」と記し、問題の風刺画の掲載を正当化した。
　シャルリー・エブドは組織宗教の批判で知られるが、反軍国主義的な風刺画の掲載も伝統としている。風刺画で扱った対象から、行き過ぎだとの批判もたびたび浴びており、２０１５年１月には国際テロ組織アルカイダの影響を受けた男２人が本社オフィスを襲撃して著名風刺画家ら１２人が死亡する事件が起きた。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2019/12/03-08:45）

French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo on Sunday defended itself following outrage over cartoons about a deadly military helicopter crash in Mali, the day before a memorial service for the 13 dead soldiers.
The magazine, which was itself the target of a devastating attack by Islamic extremists in January 2015, published the cartoons on its website.
The French army's chief of staff General Thierry Burkhard expressed his indignation at the cartoons in response to last week's deaths.
But Charlie Hebdo's editor Laurent Riss Sourisseau defended the magazines's satirical spirit on Sunday, while acknowledging the importance of the work of the French army.
The soldiers died last Monday when the two military helicopters in which they were travelling collided and crashed during a night-time operation in Mali against jihadists.
One of the five cartoons on Charlie Hebdo's website showed French President Emmanuel Macron standing in front of a coffin covered with the French tricolour. The text reads: I joined the ranks to stand out from the crowd -- a slogan the army is using for its current recruitment campaign.
- Long anti-militarist tradition -
Profound indignation and incomprehension at the sight of this drawing from @Charlie_Hebdo, the army chief of staff tweeted on Friday.
My thoughts go first of all to the families of all those soldiers killed in combat to defend our freedoms, Burkhard added.
And in an open letter to Riss, he accused the magazine of having sullied the period of mourning for the bereaved families.
Riss, in his response on Sunday, wrote: Our newspaper has to stay loyal to its satirical, sometimes provocative spirit.
Nevertheless, I would like to say that we are aware of the importance of the work done by French soldiers to fight against terrorism, he added.
The soldiers who died were serving with France's Barkhane mission helping local forces in the Sahel region of Africa fight the increasingly active jihadist forces in the region.
Their bodies have been flown home and on Monday afternoon Macron will pay tribute to them in a special ceremony, which will also be attended by Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita.
As well as regularly attacking organised religion, Charlie Hebdo has a long tradition of anti-militarist satire. It is regularly denounced by its targets for going too far.
Its depictions of the Prophet Mohammed led to outrage, death threats and ultimately violence.
Two gunmen who claimed allegiance to Al-Qaeda killed 12 people in an attack on its offices in January 2015 in which many of its star cartoonists were killed.