The Hague, Jan 8 (IANS): Several Dutch media observed a minute of silence Thursday for the victims of the attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo.

At 11 a.m. Thursday, Dutch national TV channels and radio stations held a minute of silence.

"We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in France and defend the freedom of expression," read a message released by the Dutch public broadcaster before the silence.

On Dutch social media, photos showing editors holding the banner "Je Suis Charlie" were shared.

The flag was at half-mast at the editorial office of the biggest Dutch newspaper, De Telegraaf.

"We must not let them make us afraid," Xinhua news agency quoted Sjuul Paradise, the chief editor, as saying in a speech.

Security measures surrounding the building of media group TMG in Amsterdam, in which the editors of De Telegraaf and Metro are located, were raised, De Telegraaf reported.

Demonstrations are planned in major Dutch cities including Amsterdam and Rotterdam later Thursday.

"An attack on a cartoonist/journalist is an attack on the freedom of expression," Amsterdam Mayor Van der Laan said in a statement.

"And that is an attack on freedom, and so on all of us," he said.