“Sixty years after this tragedy, I pay tribute to the memory of the victims and their families.
The statement is brief, but the message important.
Emmanuel Macron saluted this Tuesday the memory of the nine victims who died in the Charonne metro, in Paris, during a demonstration for peace in Algeria on February 8, 1962, violently repressed by the police under the authority of the prefect Maurice Papon.
He is the first president to pay tribute to these victims.
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Paris police chief Didier Lallement laid a wreath on behalf of the president on Tuesday during a ceremony at the Père Lachaise cemetery, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the demonstration.
“On February 8, 1962, a united demonstration was organized in Paris for peace and independence in Algeria and against the attacks of the OAS.
It was violently repressed by the police: 9 people lost their lives, several hundred were injured, ”recalls Emmanuel Macron in his press release.
A long-awaited tribute
This tribute to the victims killed during the demonstration, then organized by left-wing parties, in particular the French Communist Party, was long overdue.
It "is part of a global process of recognition of all the memories linked to the Algerian war and which aims to build this common memory", specifies the entourage of the Head of State.
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Already on October 16, Emmanuel Macron had made a memorial gesture for the 60th anniversary of another tragedy, the massacre of several dozen Algerian demonstrators in Paris on October 17, 1961. He then declared that these "crimes" committed "under the the authority of Maurice Papon" are "inexcusable for the Republic".
Since coming to power in 2017, Emmanuel Macron has multiplied memorial gestures to try to "reconcile memories" between French and Algerians, but without "repentance".