(Transcript from SBS World News Radio)
There was silence, tears and chants at rallies in Australia with hundreds of people gathering to show their support for the murdered journalists and cartoonists.
Many decided to dress in black and carry placards with messages of support.
Greg Dyett reports.
(Click on the audio tab above to hear the full report)
It started with a solitary call.
"Je Suis Charlie,"- I am Charlie.
"Nous sommes Charlie," -We are Charlie.
Those gathered at Federation Square soon answered.
"Nous sommes Charlie. Nous sommes Charlie."
Some members of the crowd held pens and pencils in the air as a show of support.
Among them was Jean who grew up reading the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
He says it's always been highly provocative.
"To me, it was something really close because this magazine, even if it was very polemical* and it was sometimes borderline, I was reading it when I was younger. And even though now I don't agree with most of the things they said, it's still a strong part of me and it helped me become the person I am today."
These people told SBS why they felt drawn to join a rally at Hyde Park.
"We're both from Paris so obviously for us it's a shock to see that someone is trying to destroy our liberty of expressing ourselves and we are very, very sad.'/"Yes, I want to pay my respects, I feel, I feel like I'm missing something and I feel they were very brave people.
At Martin Place, the French Ambassador Christophe Lecourtier drew parallels between what occured in Paris and the recent Sydney siege.
"That we have shared a few weeks ago what means, terrorism here in Martin Place and that we shall never surrender against terror."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has re-emphasised journalists should not now start self-censoring.
"Australian media organisations don't normally hold back when for argument's sake they're criticizing Christianity, Catholicism comes in for a particular dose of scorn. It's very important, two things here. First of all that we don't engage in self-censorship as a result of this kind of attack, second and even more important we should not stop being ourselves because of this kind of attack."
In an interview with Channel 9, Tony Abbott says the government is doing all it can to stop Australians joining overseas conflicts.
"People who have been brutalized and militarised in these battlefields are a much greater threat than people who have simply been radicalised on the internet. They learn the skills of warfare, they learn how to be killers over there and that's why it's so important we take the strongest possible action at our borders both to stop people going and to arrest people if they come back."
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