A few hundred demonstrators took to the streets of Paris on Sunday afternoon, chanting "
October 17, 1961, state crime
", sixty years to the day after the massacre of Algerians who came to demonstrate peacefully in the capital against a blanket. -fire, noted an AFP journalist.
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The environmental candidate for the Élysée Yannick Jadot participated in the parade, like the number one of EELV Julien Bayou or the deputy for Seine-Saint-Denis Éric Coquerel (LFI).
Behind the banner "
for the recognition of a state crime
", the procession left the 2nd arrondissement of Paris towards the Saint-Michel bridge (6th arrondissement), located close to the police headquarters, which had organized on October 17, 1961, the repression of the demonstration of Algerians.
"Inexcusable" crimes
Saturday, on the banks of the Seine, Emmanuel Macron had participated in a solemn commemoration.
Above all, the Head of State had declared in a press release: "
The crimes committed that night under the authority of Maurice Papon are inexcusable for the Republic
", designating the one who was at the time prefect of police of Paris.
Read also October 17, 1961: Pécresse recalls that 22 police officers were killed by the FLN the same year
"
It is a small step further but it is not satisfactory,
" historian Gilles Manceron, one of the leaders of the League of Human Rights (LDH), who called for demonstrations, told AFP. “
It is an acknowledgment of a prefecture crime. We demand recognition of a state crime and real access to archives,
”added this specialist in the memory of the Algerian War, in the procession. “
It's a gesture but we know very well that Papon did not act on his own referee. We cannot act without political order. There was a responsibility at the top of the French state,
”also insisted a 45-year-old protester, Othmane Benzaghou, activist, member of the Hirak collectives.
On October 17, 1961, some 30,000 Algerians demonstrated peacefully at the FLN's appeal against the curfew imposed on them.
The French presidency recognized on Saturday for the first time that “
nearly 12,000 Algerians were arrested and transferred to sorting centers at the Coubertin stadium, the Palais des sports and other places.
In addition to many wounded, several dozen were killed, their bodies thrown into the Seine
”.
The official toll has so far only counted three victims.
Read alsoWhat is the political impact of the memory of the Algerian war?
The call to demonstrate this Sunday for the 60th anniversary had been signed by dozens of organizations and associations (LDH, SOS Racisme, Mrap, Attac, Gisti, etc.), unions and parties (EELV, LFI, PCF ...).
