Paris | Several relatives of victims of the jihadist attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie hebdo called on Friday not to “be afraid” in the face of the terrorist threat, deeming it necessary for the trial of the January 2015 attacks to “fight for freedom”.
“If we are afraid, they won”, hammered in front of the special assize court of Paris Chloé Verlhac, widow of the designer Tignous, killed by the brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi during the attack of January 7, 2015 against the satirical weekly.
“So we are not afraid: we are there, we will continue to impose our humanism, because we are deeply humanistic people, free”, she continued, believing “owe that” to the victims of the attack. , “To say that they did not die for nothing”.
For the widow of Tignous, who paid a poignant tribute to her deceased companion, “we have trivialized evil”.
“Violence breeds violence. How do we make this circle stop now? I need, here, in front of this court, to hear the words of secularism, of fraternity ”, insisted Chloé Verlhac.
“The people of Charlie, I am with them in their fight”, had previously assured the son of the economist and writer Bernard Maris, killed in the attack which published in the columns of Charlie Hebdo under the nickname of “Uncle Bernard “.
“For my part, I will continue to fight in my own way, that is to say by smiling, by continuing to stand up to laugh. We must not be afraid, we must continue to live, to laugh, to live free, ”insisted the young man.
A respected figure in the economic field, Bernard Maris is one of ten people killed by the Kouachi brothers in the attack against Charlie. His death, at the age of 68, had sparked many reactions in academia and the media in France.
“He was someone very absent-minded, who was in the moonlight,” his son told the court, recounting his love and “fascination” for his father. A portrait completed at the helm by the economist’s daughter.
“My father was a deeply alive, generous, protective being,” she said.
“You can’t lose someone like that, you can’t lose your father in these conditions”, launched the young woman, before confiding, her voice broken by the emotion, the distress which is hers when she thinks about the attack. “I think he was afraid, it hurts so much to imagine this terror (…)”, she confided in particular.
Fourteen people in total are tried before the Special Assize Court, accused of logistical support to the Kouachi brothers but also and especially to Amédy Coulibaly, author of the attack against a policewoman in Montrouge (Paris region) and against the Hyper Cacher de Vincennes (Paris region).
Three of them, including Hayat Boumeddiene, running companion of Amédy Coulibaly, are judged by default.