Social threats involving an Italian cartoonist from the province of Arezzo, author of one of the images published in the latest issue of Charlie Hebdo, have led the authorities to raise the levels of vigilance around him. Paul Lombardi, 59, is one of the 35 winners of the competition announced by the French publication and one of his cartoons was published in the issue dedicated to the Iranian regime which has aroused strong reactions in Tehran. According to what has been learned, the police have started measures to protect the man’s personal safety.
The threats on social media came after the publication of the Charlie Hebdo issue. Former worker, now retired, Lombardi is the author of a cartoon depicting a woman urinating on the image of Ayatollah Khamenei. Her drawing was featured on the front page of the special issue commemorating the anniversary of the 2015 bombing of the Paris newsroom and targeting the crackdowns by the Tehran regime.
After receiving the first threats, the designer from Arezzo is under the special attention of the police due to the plausible risk of reckless actions. In the coming days, again according to what is learned, the prefecture of Arezzo will decide whether to adopt even more targeted measures.
Lombardi already has a track record recognized in French newspapers having published cartoons for The world e Le Figaro and in other publications. On the Charlie Hebdo affair he explains: “I participated in a competition organized by the French newspaper and I later discovered that I was among the 35 cartoonists chosen for publication, even on the front page”. “This cartoon – he continues – is the result of my indignation at what is happening in Iran. I consider freedom of expression fundamental. Almost all the designers are Iranian and they risk more than me. I have an Iranian friend who I no longer hear from.’
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In the past, he adds «I had another job but I’ve been drawing all my life. I have often been attacked before, for example for cartoons about Erdogan. But I go on because through satire I am convinced that I am also defending freedom». The Tuscan cartoonist usually publishes his drawings online: in 2008 he was noticed and his first cartoon on Stern was printed, then contracts arrived with some Dutch newspapers, with the Turkish press and with a French agency which opened the road before Le Figaro and then say The world. He made cartoons on Renzi, Meloni, Erdogan and many other exponents of international politics.
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