Take to normalize sales were probably train your dog, oct holed up the small CTD office Dammartin-en-Goele, about half--hour north of the capital. When I arrived client came out with armed who said he was from the police. client told me to leave I left, Didier said, identifying the he was to meet with as I was front of the door. I shook 's hand and I shook the hand of one of the terrorists. He said the black-clad who was wearing a bullet-proof vest and carrying what looked like a Kalashnikov rifle told him: ‘Leave, we 't kill civilians anyhow'. That really struck me, I decided to call the police. I guess it was one of the terrorists. Didier said had closed the door behind him. The salesman told the radio station he had not recognised the It could have been a policeman if he hadn't told me ‘we 't kill civilians'. They were heavily armed like elite police. http: news worldnews europe 11329976 --Hebdo-attack-live.html And Didier, a salesman, is familiar enough with weapons to be rather specific about the rifle looking like a Kalashnikov? Could be he has military, police or security background and might know more than the average salesman with a sales route the printing industry, but why not just say assault weapon? Do French military, police and security elite units use Kalashnikovs? Maybe, since and Russia do have trade agreements for military equipment, but I really 't know if Kalashnikovs are standard issue for French forces. KathJuliane This is eyeopener. Is Hebdo also on the state payroll? French Censorship and Hebdo As the world mourns the categorically horrific terrorist attack on Hebdo conversations about freedom of expression are ubiquitous. French President Hollande justifiably called the murderous attack attack on free speech, but this raises questions about the French government's own censorship of the media. Unbeknownst to Americans, free speech and freedom of the press do not mean the same as they do the United States. And while these latest terrorist attacks are no way related to the French government's media censorship, the sad irony is that is far from a champion of the universal right to free speech. A 2008 New York Times article exploring then-President Sarkozy's questionable oversight of the media noted that, Press freedom has been uneasy subject a country where newspapers rely on government subsidies and where defense contractors control large swaths of the print and broadcast media. As President from 2007, Sarkozy kept such a tight grip on the media that he earned himself the moniker Téléprésident. 2009, for instance, Sarkozy pushed through Parliament new laws that made Télévisions exclusively dependent on the government. These laws eliminated commercial advertising, resulting exclusive reliance on state funding, and granted the government the right to name the CEO of Télévisions, rather than leaving the public stations under the purview of independent body. Later on, 2012, Sarko also tightened his grip on the Internet, criminalizing citizens who habitually consult websites that advocate terrorism or that call for hatred and violence. Current French President Francois Hollande has even been linked to media censorship. 2013, l'Agence Presse posted a gloriously unflattering photo of Hollande, which the editors immediately retracted, citing editorial decision. Reporting on l' decision, the Business Times cited critics who accused the agency of self-censorship, saying have wished to avoid Hollande's goodwill, particularly as it depends largely on the French state to stay business. Analysts said they feared the photograph had been withdrawn on the orders of the president's office. The French government does not only censor the press. The French government also censors citizens… Five years ago, on 4, French Interior Minister Hortefeux was tried by a tribunal correctionnel for public injuries committed towards individual because of his race, his religion or his origin, by speech, writing, image or means of communication to the public by electronic voice. Hortefeux, previous Minister of Immigration and close friend to Sarkozy, had been under fire since 2009, when he was caught on video at a private meeting commenting, We always need one It's when there are lots of them that there are problems. After the video aired on French news site, Monde, Hortefeux was not only asked to resign as Minister of the Interior, he was forced to pay a €750 fine addition to a €2000 conciliatory payment to French anti-racism group, MRAP: Mouvement Contre Racisme et pour l'Amitié entre Peuples According to article R 625 of the French Penal Code, individuals who insult others based on their race or origin are subject to fines and trial French court. 2010, when reporting from for political news site FrumForum, I interviewed a French official who claimed that, while freedom of speech exists the limits are different than the U.S., as far as insults, defamatory comments, or propagation of hatred are concerned. As stated previous article, these institutionalized restrictions do not apply solely to public figures. The same French official claimed that any citizen can be exposed to this, except if the comments were confidential. public, it becomes délit Theoretically, article R 625 applies to everyone, regardless of whether or not they happen to be the majority or minority race, religion, or ethnicity. However, the fact remains that if you're having a private conversation over lunch