Ambassador Robert Kopecky, Head of the European Union Delegation in Guyana has condemned the cowardly attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, noting that it is an attack freedom of expression, an essential element of any democratic society.
He said that Wednesday’s horrific attack on Charlie Hebdo in Paris is an attack not only on over twenty innocent civilians, but also on two of the most fundamental values shared by the European Union and democracies the world over, a press statement from the EU said.
“Freedom of expression and freedom of the press are essential elements of any democratic and open society. Each is protected by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, by the European Convention on Human Rights, and by the Constitutions of all the Member States. These values are a central tenet of who we are as Europeans,” the ambassador said.
Twelve persons including ten of Charlie Hebdo’s staff and two French police officers paid the ultimate price in defence of those values, Kopecky said. “They were murdered in cold blood for doing their jobs, for exercising not just their own rights and freedoms, but those of all of us. Still more were wounded, some seriously. Our sincerest condolences are with these individuals and their families,” the ambassador said.
The EU also extends gratitude to the Guyana Government and people who stand in solidarity with the union and in defence of freedom everywhere. “A chorus of condemnation has rung out across the globe following this barbaric attack,” the EU said. “Those who would seek to deprive us of our fundamental freedoms, anywhere in the world, should be left in no doubt that our collective resolve to defend these freedoms will never be diminished.”
