A 2020 knife attack outside the office of a magazine that publishes blasphemous cartoons in France left four people seriously injured, one of whom was in critical condition.
According to the international news agency, the main accused, Zaheer Mahmood, was sentenced to 30 years in prison among the Pakistanis sentenced today for the attack.
After completing his sentence, 37-year-old Zaheer Mahmood will be deported and will be banned from entering France for life.
Five other Pakistanis, some of whom were minors at the time of the attack, were also sentenced to 3 to 12 years in prison for supporting and encouraging Zaheer Mahmood.
Zaheer Mahmood was not aware at the time of the attack that the magazine no longer had an office at that location. The office of Charlie Hebdo magazine was relocated after an attack in 2015.
Charlie Hebdo published blasphemous cartoons ten years ago. Its offices were attacked with knives in 2015, killing 12 people, including eight staff members.
The controversial magazine moved its offices to another location after the incident, but its policy remained unchanged. It published blasphemous cartoons again in 2020.
