A London preacher who previously called for gay people to be stoned to death has written an article defending the murder of 12 people in Paris yesterday at the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.

Yesterday, gunmen killed twelve people, after attacking the offices of Charlie Hebdo, a satirical French magazine that famously published a cartoon of a gay Muslim kiss.

Responding today, USA Today published an opinion article by London preacher Anjem Choudary who defends the murder, and appears to blame the French Government for “allowing” the magazine to publish them images, “thereby placing the sanctity of its citizens at risk?”

He writes: “Muslims consider the honor of the Prophet Muhammad to be dearer to them than that of their parents or even themselves. To defend it is considered to be an obligation upon them. The strict punishment if found guilty of this crime under sharia (Islamic law) is capital punishment implementable by an Islamic State. This is because the Messenger Muhammad said, “Whoever insults a Prophet kill him.”

“However, because the honor of the Prophet is something which all Muslims want to defend, many will take the law into their own hands, as we often see.”

He continues: “Why in this case did the French government allow the magazine Charlie Hebdo to continue to provoke Muslims, thereby placing the sanctity of its citizens at risk?”

Speaking in an interview with Fox News, Choudhary was challenged on his views, and asked whether he still thinks gay people should be put to death, as well as adulterers.

He responded to say he thought those found guilty of “sodomy”, and where there are four witnesses, should be stoned to death under Shariah law, which he said should be implemented worldwide.

The preacher is known for his extreme anti-gay views.

The 47-year-old is the former UK head of the Islamist group al-Muhajiroun or Islam4UK, banned in the UK in 2010.

Yesterday he tweeted:

Freedom of expression does not extend to insulting the Prophets of Allah, whatever your views on the events in Paris today! #ParisShooting — Anjem Choudary (@anjemchoudary) January 7, 2015

He suggested at a press conference in 2009 that gay people should be stoned to death.

Yesterday, PinkNews published 10 powerful cartoons drawn in response to the shootings, which left 10 members of the Charlie Hebdo editorial team and two policemen dead.