Skip to main content
Work with the NEU
France united after Charlie Hebdo terror assault
But million-strong free speech rally marred as journalist-jailing world leaders join in. By John Haylett and Peter Lazenby

French citizens paraded through Paris in their hundreds of thousands yesterday to proclaim national unity and freedom of expression.

However their march for decency was hijacked by a rogues’ gallery of 40 “world leaders” — perpetrators of imperialist wars, colonial occupiers, feudal despots and serial jailers of inconvenient journalists.

The 40 bigwigs took their place at the head of the march amid unprecedented security, waving to crowds assembled on the route.

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
News International Print plant at Wapping, East London, January 23, 1986
Workers' Rights / 24 January 2026
24 January 2026

Forty years on, TONY DUBBINS revisits the Wapping dispute to argue that Murdoch’s real aim was union-busting – enabled by Thatcherite laws, police violence, compliant unions and a complicit media

[Pic: Andrew Wiard]
Workers' Rights / 24 January 2026
24 January 2026

LAURA DAVISON traces how Murdoch’s mass sackings, political deals and legal loopholes shattered collective bargaining 40 years ago – and how persistent NUJ organising, landmark court victories and new employment rights legislation are finally challenging that legacy