Republican marches

The Republican marches (French: Marches républicaines) were a series of rallies that took place in cities across France on 10–11 January 2015 to honour the victims of the Charlie Hebdo shooting, the Montrouge shooting and the Porte de Vincennes siege, as well as to voice support for freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

By their broad appeal, they were the first mass movement of their kind since 1944, when Paris was liberated from the Germans at the end of World War II.

[4] In an interview prior to the Republican marches, cartoonist Luz, one of the survivors of the Charlie Hebdo attack, described the show of support for the magazine as "wonderful", but bemoaned a lack of diversity of views in the public discourse following the attacks, which he said served the purposes of politicians, as well the use of symbols, which he characterised as contrary to the values of the magazine.

[8] Also speaking prior to the marches, Willem, another surviving cartoonist, said that a demonstration in support of free expression would be "naturally a good thing", but rejected the support of far-right figures such as Marine Le Pen and Geert Wilders: "We vomit on those who suddenly declare that they are our friends".

François Lamy, one of the organisers, said it is not where the National Front should be; it is not where a political party which, for years, has divided French citizens because of their origin or their religion should be.

Leaders of the Sunni, Orthodox, Bektashi , and Catholic communities of Albania , in Paris, 11 January 2015