Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo paid sober tribute on Friday to the victims of the jihadist attacks against the weekly Charlie Hebdo and the Hyper Cacher store in Paris, seven years after the attacks.
In addition to Mr. Darmanin and Ms. Hidalgo, the president of the Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse and the prefect of police Didier Lallement were present, as well as the first deputy of Ms. Hidalgo, Emmanuel Grégoire.
Like every year, the same ceremony was repeated three times.
First in front of 10, rue Nicolas-Appert (XIth), former premises of the satirical weekly, where the brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi had killed 11 people on January 7, 2015. Among the victims, emblematic figures of “Charlie” , like its director and designer Charb, the cartoonists Cabu, Wolinksi, Honoré, Tignous and the economist Bernard Maris.
Then a few meters further on on Boulevard Richard-Lenoir, where police lieutenant Ahmed Merabet was killed by the Kouachi brothers while trying to stop them in their flight.
Finally Porte de Vincennes (20th century), in front of the Kosher supermarket targeted on January 9, 2015 by an attack perpetrated by another jihadist, Amedy Coulibaly, who had killed three Jewish customers and an employee.
In accordance with the wishes of the families of the victims, no speech was made at the three places of meditation on Friday morning: after the reading of the names of the dead, the laying of wreaths and a minute of silence, the Marseillaise resounded in the Parisian cold.
“Let’s never forget them,” Ms. Hidalgo commented on Twitter, a network via which Emmanuel Macron also reacted later in the afternoon.
“Seven years ago, the Nation was attacked for one of its most precious goods: freedom. We do not forget you”, declared the president to accompany the list of 17 victims including Clarissa Jean-Philippe, the municipal policewoman of Montrouge killed on January 8, 2015, between the two Parisian attacks, by Amedy Coulibaly.
Another ceremony will be held on Saturday morning in this town in the southern suburbs of Paris, again at the scene of the attack and without an audience due to the health situation.