10 years on: 'I will never forget' Charlie Hebdo attack, says former French President Hollande

Record ID: 1895732

  • Title: 10 years on: 'I will never forget' Charlie Hebdo attack, says former French President Hollande
  • Date: 6th January 2025
  • Summary: CLERMONT-FERRAND, FRANCE (JANUARY 6, 2025) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (French) FORMER FRENCH PRESIDENT, FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, SAYING: "It was (former German Chancellor) Angela Merkel who started the movement (of foreign leaders coming to France) because we had a meeting that was scheduled for that Sunday. Of course it could no longer be held. She told me: "I will come to the demon
  • Embargoed: 20th January 2025 20:47
  • Keywords: Charlie Hebdo Francois Hollande ISIS Islam Islamic State Prophet Muhammad caricature shooting sketch terrorism terrorist
  • Location: CLERMONT-FERRAND & PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: CLERMONT-FERRAND & PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Europe,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00C121106012025RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: FILE OF ATTACKS AND RESPONSE CAN BE FOUND IN EDIT 0534-FRANCE-SECURITY-CHARLIEHEBDO-FILE
    Former French President Francois Hollande looked back on the January 2015 attack that struck France on Monday (January 6), recalling moments he would 'never forget'.
    From the minutes that followed the shooting at the Charlie Hebdo satyrical newspaper offices to the march for solidarity that gathered world leaders days after, Hollande was at the centre of the unfolding crisis.
    "To be president means to take action. In that case, it was about neutralising the terrorists and ensuring the safety of the French. But it is also sharing an emotion, a compassion, a solidarity," he told Reuters.
    On January 7, 2015, the offices of Charlie Hebdo were stormed by two gunmen, brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi, who shot and killed 12 people.
    The attack on Charlie Hebdo staff was followed a day later by the killing of a trainee policewoman by Amedy Coulibaly, an Islamic State loyalist. The following day he attacked a Jewish store on the edge of Paris, where he murdered four hostages before police killed him.
    The three attackers were killed by police in separate standoffs.
    Hollande recalled being called by a friend and member of the Charlie Hebdo editorial team moments after the tragedy as his "strongest memory" of that period.
    He also said he was "moved to tears" as he met the owner of a printing shop where the gunmen responsible for the Charlie Hebdo attack held out and were later killed by police.
    The former French president and sitting lawmaker also took a jab at billionaire businessman Elon Musk when talking about freedom of speech.
    "The fact that Elon Musk has given himself the power to allow any opinion to be published on social networks in the name of a libertarian conception (of freedom of speech) is perverting freedom of speech," he said.
    "Freedom of speech can mock, it can denounce, but it is never a call for hatred or discrimination or to question the faithful or practitioners of a religion."
    (Production: Noemie Olive, Elizabeth Pineau, Manuel Ausloos)
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