The first edition of Charlie Hebdo to emerge since the terror attack on the French magazine’s offices is expected to generate record demand when it hits newsstands on Wednesday, defiantly featuring the Prophet Mohammed on its cover.
The special issue will have an initial print run of 1m, with another 2m expected in the coming days, to be distributed across a country that is still tense and fearful and where 10,000 troops have been deployed to protect vulnerable sites.
“We normally sell about four copies [of Charlie Hebdo] a week,” said Philippe Piochelle, who works at a newsagents in central Paris. “But I am expecting demand for maybe 100 or 200 tomorrow. The question will be getting enough copies.”