Charlie Hebdo terror suspects go on trial

On newsstands outside the courtroom in Paris, the latest issue of a French satirical newspaper reprinted the caricatures of Islam’s Muhammad that sparked deadly shootings in January 2015. Spectators went through police checkpoints in the secured building as the trial began on Wednesday for suspects in the attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices and a kosher supermarket in Paris that killed 17 people over three days.

Who are the suspects? The three gunmen died during police raids immediately following the shootings. The 13 men and women on trial this week are accused of buying weapons and vehicles and helping plan the attacks. Most of the suspects said they thought they were involved in ordinary crime. Prosecutors are trying three of them in absentia after they fled to join Islamic State.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Janie B. Cheaney’s reflections on the satirical newspaper and Islamic terrorists.