A State Duma deputy has requested that the Russian Foreign Ministry add the names of Charlie Hebdo staff to the country's travel blacklist, following the magazine's two cartoons depicting the Sinai air crash.
Communist lawmaker Vadim Solovyov referred to the cartoonists' “blasphemous and amoral behaviour,” echoing the Kremlin's earlier criticism of the drawings.
“Such actions are typical of people who think nothing is sacred, who attempt to reap profits from the death of others,” Solovyov told Izvestia newspaper on Monday.
The head of the Moscow Bureau for Human Rights, Alexander Brod, has also condemned the cartoons. The NGO said in an online statement that it will seek help from French human rights organisations, as well as members of the European Parliament, in order to “bring the magazine itself to justice.”
The cartoons had drawn ire from Russian Twitter users as well as official figures. Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry, posted on Facebook asking: “Is anyone still Charlie?” — a reference to the catchphrase, “Je Suis Charlie,” used to express solidarity with the magazine after 12 staff were killed in a gun attack in January.
Russia had previously imposed an entry ban on 89 European politicians, military leaders and intelligence officials, Reuters reported in May. A similar list exists for U.S. citizens.
