Spanish police arrest ‘terrorist’ trio suspected of encouraging attacks against France over Charlie Hebdo Mohammed cartoons

Police in Spain have arrested three people on suspicion of encouraging terrorist attacks against France after the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo republished cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed in September last year.

The EU’s law enforcement agency Europol said on Thursday it had helped Spanish police smash the so-called “terrorist cell” in the southern city of Granada.

In videos posted to social media, the suspects allegedly threatened to carry out revenge attacks against France and its citizens over the controversial caricatures, Europol said in a statement.

The trio had amassed 19,000 online followers between them, Europol said, which presented a “serious security concern."

A Europol expert assisted Spanish police in raids on homes and collected evidence, which will now be analyzed.

For many Muslims, visual depictions of the Prophet Mohammed are considered blasphemous.

In response to Charlie Hebdo’s initial publication of a series of controversial Mohammed cartoons in 2015, two Islamist gunmen stormed the magazine’s offices, killing 12 people.

The French outlet’s September 2020 republication of the original cartoons coincided with the start of the trial of 14 people believed to have aided the two attackers.

The cartoons’ republication sparked numerous protests across the Muslim world last year, including in Pakistan, Yemen, Iraq, Bangladesh, and other countries.

In recent weeks, anti-France protests have flared up again in Pakistan, led by the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan group, which has called for bans on French products due to French President Emmanuel Macron’s refusal to condemn the cartoons.

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