Muslims rally in a village Duisi, Pankisi Gorge (Interpressnews)

Muslims rally in a village Duisi, Pankisi Gorge (Interpressnews)

TBILISI, DFWatch–Muslims in a valley northeast in Georgia demonstrated Monday against the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo for publishing a caricature depicting Prophet Mohammad on January 14.

People in the village Duisi, in Pankisi Gorge, believe the cartoon is offensive to Muslims and even though the newspaper was attacked by terrorists, it continues to insult followers of Islam in the name of freedom of speech, although the villagers also condemn terrorism.

“Today we condemn cartoons which touched every religion and insulted what is most sacred for a human being,” organizers say. “No matter how they cover it with ‘democracy’ or ‘freedom of speech’ there is no justification for such action. Freedom of expression doesn’t have to be mockery of one’s belief.”

The demonstration was conducted along with prayer. Participants said it is their most important duty to protect Mohammad.

Pankisi Gorge borders with the Chechen republic, which is part of the Russian Federation. The majority of the population are Kists, a Chechen subgroup.

Tens of youth from Pankisi Gorge have gone to Syria to join the Islamic State fighters there and at least eight Georgians have died in combat in the war there.  https://dfwatch.net/one-more-georgian-jihadist-dies-in-syrian-war-99679

The Georgian government is preparing a new bill that will specifically target Georgians who go abroad to fight along with a terrorist organizations. https://dfwatch.net/georgia-plans-new-measures-as-one-more-fighter-dies-in-syria-war-51952

12 died and ten were injured in the January 7 terrorist attack against the office of Charlie Hebdo in Paris. Earlier, the magazine has published a cartoon of IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.