Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attacks: seven years later, a tribute to the victims

Seven years after the Charlie Hebdo attacks, a sober ceremony was planned in memory of the victims of the terrorist attacks which targeted the satirical newspaper. The Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo paid a sober tribute on Friday to the victims of the jihadist attacks against the weekly and the Hyper Cacher store in Paris, which took place on January 7 and 9, 2015, respectively. the Ile-de-France region Valérie Pécresse and the prefect of police Didier Lallement were also present, as well as the first deputy of the city council of Paris, 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”, commented Anne Hidalgo on Twitter, followed by Gérald Darmanin who wrote “Never forget”. Later in the afternoon, Emmanuel Macron also reacted. “Seven years ago, the Nation was under attack for one of its most precious possessions: freedom. We do not forget you”, declared on the social network 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.

“It was a January morning, 7 years ago already. I think of our friends from Charlie Hebdo, Ahmed Merabet, Clarissa Jean-Philippe, and the victims of Hyper Cacher. Let their relatives, who live every day with the weight of this absence, know that we will never forget “, tweeted for his part François Hollande, the former President of the Republic then in office at the time of the attacks.

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.