“The important thing is that Charlie Hebdo continues and that its spirit endures,” said a former newspaper cartoonist.

When did you start working for Charlie Hebdo?

In 2015, a month after the attack. I already had very good friends at Charlie, but I didn’t work there, I was in a competing newspaper, Siné Mensuel. After the attack, Antonio Fischetti (researcher and science journalist) asked me to collaborate on the science section and I worked for Charlie for five years.

Do you still think about this attack today when you draw?

I think about it, and I have also kept several contacts, notably relatives of deceased people. I often see Charb’s parents and Charlie’s friends who were not present on the premises when the attack took place. And the consequences of the attack are still felt today. Charlie Hebdo is the only newspaper that can still run cartoons that won’t run anywhere else. As soon as there is a question of religion, in particular, there is “panic on board”. After the attack, I said: we won’t see a drawing of Mohammed tomorrow. For ten years, there haven’t been many drawings of Mohammed in the newspapers. You can search…

So the situation has not improved…

Today, we control nothing. I have to take part in an exhibition on unshowable drawings in Lyon. I have drawings that are even unshowable in a situation of unshowable drawings. Of course it’s in a separate room, but anyone can get this out on the internet. It goes to Facebook, But there’s no point saying “don’t even be afraid”, everyone is afraid. We must not underestimate the harmfulness and imbecility of a certain number of people, activists of I don’t know what cause but in any case not the cause of humor. Just remember the assassination of Samuel Paty or the number of deaths caused by the Charlie caricatures the year they were released, in 2006. It’s a powder keg.

Have you ever censored yourself over the past ten years?

Of course ! I hardly work in newspapers anymore. The era today is a little closed, it does not accept that we go very far in humorous drawings, press drawings, or caricatures. Without forgetting these social networks which constantly monitor you… When I hear relatives around me, and more on the left, who say, today, that Charlie, they were far away, they ultimately did not totally stolen… It’s crazy! They died because they drew funny things, these reactions are crazy! But Charlie continues to give direction: they are capable of going far and producing excellent drawings that would never be successful elsewhere.

A good drawing doesn’t take gloves because, if you do, the drawing becomes uninteresting.

Does “the Charlie spirit” still exist?

Yes, I hope… The proof is these young cartoonists who came to the newspaper, and some of whom stayed. And you just have to read it today to be convinced, there are drawings that are frankly excellent. Afterwards, I also find that there are still a lot of people who are “Charlie”. Here, in Brittany, I come across a lot of them. Some wrongly because they confuse everything, Arab and Islamist, for example. Outside of large cities, we must not forget the attachment to secularism, which is deep. In Brittany, it was a long time before there was peace between private and public schools. Professor Choron (one of the co-founders of the weekly, Editor’s note) always said that Charlie is a newspaper which avenges us for our daily lives and the surrounding stupidity. A good drawing doesn’t take gloves because, if you do, the drawing becomes uninteresting.

Drawing about religion is taking risks, but there are plenty of other subjects like racism, homophobia, feminism or environmentalism which provoke heightened susceptibility but which we can laugh about. We can laugh at everything but, above all, we must laugh at everything, said Cavanna (also co-founder of Charlie Hebdo, Editor’s note). Frankly, if we start having a minute of silence for all the misfortunes in the world, we will start at 8 a.m. and we will not have opened our mouths at midnight. As Romain Gary reminded us, humor is proof of man’s superiority over the injustices that happen to him.

Has freedom of expression become more or less important since the attack?

Paradoxically, freedom of expression has become global. Today, thanks to the internet, we have access to so many things. But, at the same time, there is also greater latitude to prevent freedom, there are so many people who grant themselves the right to say “that is not good and it must be prohibited”. Today, there are prohibitions and taboos everywhere. Freedom of expression is found in everyday life, in the way people can express themselves. In France, you don’t have to turn around before saying something…

Will you be in Paris this Tuesday for the commemorations?

Yes, at 11 a.m., in front of the former Charlie Hebdo premises. I’ll be there with friends, also so as not to leave it to the officials and so that it’s not just Hollande, Retailleau or Hidalgo laying wreaths… And, at the end of the month, we’ll go see Charb at the cemetery and drink a glass of rum at his grave. It’s ten years, we have to mark the occasion but, after that, we won’t talk about it anymore. I’m not sure we’ll commemorate the 20th anniversary, but the important thing is that Charlie Hebdo continues and its spirit endures. When, when I was younger, I came across Reiser albums sold by a second-hand bookseller on the market square in Saint-Pol-de-Léon (29), it completely changed my vision of things. I was like, “What is this thing?” Can we do this? “. And it was great! Charb wanted to become a designer when he saw Cabu’s drawings. It is for this reason that Charlie must continue, like this French spirit, both franchouillard and brilliant.