The remains of journalist Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, killed Monday in eastern Ukraine by shrapnel during a bombardment, will be repatriated to France on Wednesday, BFMTV announced on Sunday evening during a program which returned him tribute.
The image reporter, who died at 32, covered the conflict for the news channel continuously.
“Frédéric returns on Wednesday.
A tribute will be paid to him on Friday, it will be Place de la République at 6:30 p.m. in Paris, announced the channel during the program receiving his colleagues from the mission in Ukraine, Maxime Brandstaetter and Oksana Leuta, who were at his side when he was kill.
Both arrived in France on Friday evening.
During this special program, they returned, with emotion, to the circumstances in which the journalist died, following a humanitarian mission.
💬 "He wanted to show what's going on there"
Maxime Brandstaetter and Oksana Leuta's tribute to our colleague Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff pic.twitter.com/UYSn7Jq6ga
– BFMTV (@BFMTV) June 5, 2022
"As usual, the authorities had warned us (that the road) was dangerous and that they could not ensure our safety there, but if you want, it's the same everywhere in the Donbass", explained Maxime Brandstaetter.
"Shards of shrapnel pierced the armouring of the car, a mortal wound in the neck was received by an accredited French journalist who was reporting on the evacuation", had specified the authorities;
The road where Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff was killed "had been authorized to us by the local authorities"
Maxime Brandstaetter and Oksana Leuta, return to the conditions of the report during which our colleague lost his life pic.twitter.com/jVIbiSh18Q
– BFMTV (@BFMTV) June 5, 2022
“With Frédéric, we used to constantly consult each other, to discuss everything.
So yes, that day, we hesitate, but we say to ourselves that it is there that it is happening, and that it is our job to go there, ”said Maxime Brandstaetter.
The day before, he had met the parents of “Fred”, after “a very hard emotional journey”, he had confided on Twitter.
I got back to France yesterday.
Without Fred.
The trip was emotionally tough but important.
We had to go the opposite way without him.
Yesterday I met his parents, they are sweet, caring and incredibly wise... Like him.
Logic.
— Maxime Brandstaetter (@BranchtMaxime) June 4, 2022
A tribute will be paid Friday in Paris to Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, at the call of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in particular.
His family, friends and colleagues will be present.
"Let's be many to pay homage to him, Place de la République in Paris, Friday June 10 at 6:30 p.m.," says RSF on Twitter.
Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, a 32-year-old journalist, was killed in Ukraine.
He paid with his life for his quest for reliable, honest, independent, vital information for our democracies.
Let's be many to pay tribute to him, place de la République in Paris, Friday June 10 at 6:30 p.m.
pic.twitter.com/CWbzokrJC6
— RSF (@RSF_inter) June 3, 2022
The French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office (Pnat) announced on Monday the opening of a war crimes investigation after the reporter's death.