Politicians have issued a call for cartoonists and satirists to redouble their assault on terrorists to mark the first anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris.

Twelve cartoonists and staff were gunned down in retaliation for a perceived, perpetual slur campaign against Islam, with Al-Qaida affiliates claiming responsibility for the attack in a propaganda video shortly after the massacre.

However, French-born SNP MSP Christian Allard said Charlie Hebdo's resilience in the face of such violent retribution, choosing to continue ridiculing Islamist terrorists with their brand of caustic parody, set the best example for upholding the virtue of freedom of speech.

In a Member's Debate at Holyrood, Mr Allard said: "These attacks, like many other terrorist attacks in the past, had nothing to do with religion. It was about power - it was about men wanting power. It always is.

"A year on, we are still asking how best to respond to terror. Charlie Hebdo has given us the best response to an attack on free speech as we can get. They kept on doing what they were doing before.

"They kept on being outrageous, to mock, to provoke us all and to show no respect to anyone because none of us are respectable.

"In the aftermath the message came clear from the people: an attack on our journalists and our cartoonists is more than an attack on free speech, but an attack on us all."

Scottish culture secretary Fiona Hyslop said those who challenge the oppressive elements of ideologies through satire are essential to modern democracy, even if their output sometimes has the propensity to offend.

Ms Hyslop said: "The power of caricature and satire has long been recognised. It was understood in ancient Greece and Rome, and is still feared by tyrants and dictators.

"Such cartoons exist to highlight injustice and to make the change through challenge and ridicule.

"It can sometimes be hurtful as well as thought-provoking, but in a modern democracy like Scotland there is more than ample room for legitimate commentary through the medium of cartoons and caricature.

"A compliant, reverential media is not compliant with a modern democracy."

Conservative MSP Jamie McGrigor alluded to the predictability of further violent outreach from extremists, but insisted "laughter is poison to a tyrant" and urged satirists to stay strong and committed to their cause.

He said: "Tyrants and terrorists alike in many of the most despicable regimes fear journalists, cartoonists, musicians and film-makers for exposing them for what they are.

"Satire is a most effective tool in eroding pedestals. Laughter is poison to a tyrant.

"Let us remember the anger felt by Hitler when he was lampooned in Charlie Chaplin's The Great Dictator.

"The Marx Brothers' film about Freedonia (Duck Soup) and more recently The Interview, which depicts North Korea, is another in that vein."

He added: "It takes great bravery to stand up and be counted and tell the truth, and that is never more important than now in an era that has seen a decline in freedoms and an increase in terrorism.

"Unfortunately, it is likely that there will be further atrocities and massacres... but all of us must continue to behave with courage in the face of this dark threat to freedom, decency and the way of life to which countless people around the world aspire."