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Rallies after student threatened over Charlie Hebdo tribute

Teachers and students at a French school rallied in support of a pupil who received death threats for publishing an edition of the school newspaper in support of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

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Teachers and students at a French school rallied in support of a pupil who received death threats for publishing an edition of the school newspaper in support of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

The student, 17-year-old Louis, published a special edition of the paper in January after Islamists went on a killing spree on the streets of Paris that left 17 people dead and saw the capital gripped with fear for three days.

Two of them stormed the Paris offices of Charlie Hebdo killing 12 people, including journalists and police officers, and sparking a global outpouring in support of free speech.

The school paper edition -- titled "Je Suis Charlie" ("I am Charlie") after the slogan that went viral following the attack -- included poems, opinion pieces and drawings.

"It was a tribute to the 17 victims without discrimination -- for Jews, journalists, police officers," Louis, whose surname was not given, said.

Police have opened an inquiry into the death threats against him, including seven letters in total, two of which contained bullets. The last one at the beginning of May "seemed like an ultimatum", Louis said.

Yesterday, students and teachers gathered at midday at the Marcellin-Berthelot high school on the outskirts of Paris to show their support for Louis, whose nerves have been shattered by the threats.

The 17-year-old's mother said she was deeply worried about the mental state of her son, who only sleeps a few hours a night, "won't go out in the street alone" and now carried two tear gas cannisters on him at all times.

"This has been going on for months," complained history teacher Pascale Morel. "We didn't say anything at first while the (police) inquiry was being carried out, but nothing concrete has been done."

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