2000 people commemorate in Geneva
In Switzerland, around 2,500 people commemorated the victims of the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on Saturday. In Bellinzona, around 500 people commemorated the victims of terrorism in France. In Geneva, around 2000 people took part in a solidarity march.
The participants in the torchlight procession stood up for freedom of expression, the press, humor and the right to caricature. In the early evening, they marched through the center of Geneva to the French consulate. They lit candles or laid flowers in front of its gates. Many participants also carried signs reading "Je suis Charlie" or displayed covers of the French satirical magazine. Others held up pencils. The participants chanted slogans such as "To those who want to rule the world: The world resists". The slogan of the French Revolution "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" was also heard. French Consul Odile Soupison thanked all those who have paid their respects to the dead since Wednesday and expressed their outrage at the attacks. She called for values such as freedom and pluralism to be defended. At the beginning of the rally, Michel Schweri from Reporters Without Borders reminded the audience that 66 journalists had been killed for their work in the past year alone.
Rally of silence in Bellinzona
Around 450 to 500 people gathered in Bellinzona on Saturday afternoon for a silent rally entitled "Je suis Charlie" in Piazza Governo. That's a lot of people for Bellinzona, said Paola Zufolo-Darani from the SP on request. The SP and the Syndicom Ticino trade union had called for the rally. The only speaker to address the gathering was the Ticino cartoonist Corrado Mordasini, who spoke movingly, said Zufolo-Darani. The SP had called on people to stand up for a more tolerant world without violence and fanaticism in silence and without party signs or flags. Another demonstration is to take place in Ticino on Sunday in memory of the cartoonists and journalists killed at Charlie Hebdo. Expats have called for the demonstration in Lugano on Facebook. (SDA)
