Paris, January 24, 2025: A Paris court has sentenced 29-year-old Pakistani national Zaheer Mahmood to 30 years in prison for attempting to murder two individuals outside the former offices of Charlie Hebdo in 2020, wielding a meat cleaver.
Mahmood, who was under the false belief that the satirical newspaper was still housed in the building — the same location that was targeted in a deadly Islamist attack a decade ago — carried out the attack on September 25, 2020. At the time, the office had already been vacated following the storming of the premises by two Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen who killed 12 people, including eight editorial staff members.
Originally from rural Pakistan, Mahmood arrived in France illegally in the summer of 2019. The court was informed that he had been radicalized by Khadim Hussain Rizvi, a Pakistani preacher who incited violence, calling for the beheading of blasphemers in the name of “avenging the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).”
Mahmood was convicted of attempted murder and terrorist conspiracy, in addition to being permanently banned from setting foot on French soil.
On the morning of the attack, Mahmood arrived outside the former Charlie Hebdo offices around 11:40 a.m. (1040 GMT), armed with a butcher’s cleaver. He severely injured two employees of the Premieres Lignes news agency.
Alongside Mahmood, five other Pakistani men, including some minors at the time of the incident, faced trial for supporting and encouraging his actions in the terrorist conspiracy. These co-defendants were handed sentences ranging from three to 12 years in prison. Those who were adults also received a ban from entering France. All six defendants were listed on the French terrorism watchlist. None of the accused showed any reaction to the verdict.
Both of the victims attended the sentencing, but chose not to comment on the court’s decision.
