This is the first time that this ceremony has taken place outside Paris.
On March 11, the annual day dedicated to the victims of terrorism, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal pays tribute to them this Monday morning in Arras, in the city where professor Dominique Bernard was killed five months ago by a former student aged 20 years old and on file for Islamist radicalization.
Emmanuel Macron usually presides over this tribute at Les Invalides in Paris, where a bronze statue was erected symbolizing the words of the victims which continues even after their death.
This year, the head of government and former Minister of National Education wanted to relocate this ceremony in tribute to the French teacher stabbed to death on October 13, 2023 in front of the Gambetta middle school in Arras where he taught.
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Upon his arrival, Gabriel Attal will visit the establishment, which will remain open on Monday, to speak with students and then teachers, and to renew the “support of the Nation”.
This tragedy occurred three years after the assassination of another teacher, history and geography professor Samuel Paty, beheaded near his college in Yvelines on October 16, 2020 after showing his students caricatures of Mohammed during course on freedom of expression.
“In a place where education has been affected”
The Prime Minister will present the insignia of the Legion of Honor to the five people from the Arras establishment who intervened during the attack.
They were knighted in the January 1 Legion of Honor promotion, along with six police officers.
Gabriel Attal will then chair the official ceremony at the Arras citadel, where some 600 people have been invited.
Students and teachers from the two affected establishments will read texts and a memorial gesture is planned after the speech by the head of government, who will then have lunch with elected officials and representatives of victims' associations.
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At the Interministerial Delegation for Victim Assistance (DIAV), it is explained that the organization of the ceremony outside Paris is "a fairly old request from the associations" who are also "very attached" to what it is held “in a place where education has been affected”.
Several associations, however, deplored not having been involved in the choice of location.
This day of tribute has a European dimension since it is held on the anniversary of the attacks of March 11, 2004 in Madrid (192 dead), 20 years ago this year.
Last year, President Emmanuel Macron praised the “dignity” and the demand for “truth” and “humanity” which marked the trials of the attacks of the past decade in France, notably those of Nice and 13 November 2015.
Visit to flood victims
After the ceremony, Gabriel Attal will remain in Pas-de-Calais to visit flood victims, as he has already done twice since his arrival in Matignon.
He will visit an affected home in Saint-Étienne-Au-Mont before attending a presentation in La Caloterie of the emergency work carried out and discussing the resilience plan in Montreuil-Sur-Mer with local stakeholders. .
Our compatriots in Gard and Ardèche are facing very severe flooding and bad weather.
We currently have at least 7 people missing, including two children.
I share the pain and concerns of their loved ones.
The Nation stands united…
— Gabriel Attal (@GabrielAttal) March 10, 2024
Severe bad weather also affected the south-east of France on Sunday, where the lifeless bodies of three victims were found in the Gard, while hundreds of rescuers are still looking for four other people, including two children from the same family. .
These people were swept away while trying to drive across bridges over swollen rivers.