DUSHANBE, September 15, 2015, Asia-Plus – International media outlets report that French magazine Charlie Hebdo could face legal action after publishing a series of cartoons mocking the death of Syrian toddler Aylan al-Kurdi.
Charlie Hebdo has published a cartoon about the death of Syrian toddler Aylan Kurdi on the cover of its latest issue.
Nine months after the terrorist attacks at the Charlie Hebdo offices in Paris, which killed 12 people after the magazine mocked the Prophet Muhammad in a series of cartoons, Charlie Hebdo has continued to create controversial content.
The drowned three-year-old Aylain al-Kurdi has become the symbol of the refugee crisis after his tiny body clad in a red T-shirt and denim shorts was photographed being carried off a Turkish beach.
But the latest edition of the French satirical magazine appears to mock that outpouring of grief from around the world, by showing Aylan lying face down in the sand under the caption ‘So Close to Goal’.
Above him is an advertisement for McDonald’s reading: ‘Two children’s menus for the price of one’.
Another cartoon mocks Aylan’s religion, showing a Jesus-like figure next to the words ‘Christians walk on water’ and a little boy upended in the sea next to the words ‘Muslim children sink’.
Another depiction of Aylan shows him next to children”s TV character Casimir, an orange dinosaur, under the caption ‘Welcome to Children’s Island’.
The cartoons have attracted a lot of criticism online from those who view the use of Aylan”s death for satirical purposes as offensive. Others have said magazine is merely the West”s handling of the refugee crisis.
