Charlie Hebdo returns to Twitter with a strange tweet

Suite à un incident technique indépendant de notre volonté survenu en #janvier2015, notre présence sur #Twitter a été momentanément interrompue. Nous revenons sur le réseau, sous vos applaudissements et vos encouragements à aller niquer nos mères. pic.twitter.com/yhgQugoi8t

— Charlie Hebdo (@Charlie_Hebdo_) May 4, 2018

“Following a technical incident beyond our control in #January2015, our presence on #Twitter has been temporarily interrupted. We return to the network, under your applause and encouragement to go and fuck our mothers.”

The weekly tweeted the tasteless remark accompanied by a sketch, in which a dove of the same color as the bird logo of the social networking tool, leaves excrement on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Charlie Hebdo’s last tweet was posted on January 7, 2015, on the day of the jihadist attack on the headquarters of the Paris printout that resulted in 12 editors and newspaper workers losing their lives.

The sketch was by Onores, the cartoonist, who was killed in the assault along with other editors and cartoonists of the weekly, such as Wolinski, Kambi, Sarb and Tiniu.

The satirical weekly had remained silent since the Kouachi brothers’ attack.

In their first issue this year, the weekly complained about living in fear as well as a lack of funding. Previously, everything about the production of the paper was kept secret, including its location in Paris.

But on the third anniversary of the terror attack, the magazine director and cartoonist Laurent Sourisseau, known as Riss, opened up on their severe security restrictions. The headline reads: “Three years in a tin can.”

In his editorial, Riss writes about the astronomical cost of maintaining such tight security of hiring a private security firm, surveillance and special installations — including a panic room.

Protecting their staff costs more than 1,2 million euro per year. “How long will Charlie Hebdo be able to sustain such a financial burden?” Riss asks.

After the attack in 2015, Charlie Hebdo received overwhelming support in the form of new subscriptions, but according to some reports, sales have plummeted since then.

Reporter Fabrice Nicolino spoke to staff members, who rely on security detail for trips and live in constant fear. Some keep hearing the clicking sounds the automatic assault rifles made when reloading on the day of the attack.

Riss says freedom of expression in France, “this vital freedom, impossible to dissociate from our democracy, is becoming a luxury good like racing cars or diamond necklaces … which only the most wealthy media outlets will be able to enjoy in the future”.

They have called on the French president, Emmanuel Macron to support them financially.