At first glance, there is nothing to indicate that it was in this ordinary building at number 10 of the very discreet rue Nicolas-Appert, in Paris (11th arrondissement) that the bloody attack perpetrated against Charlie Hebdo on January 7 took place. 2015. But on the facade of the former premises of the satirical newspaper, a rectangle of cardboard surrounded by a few pieces of tape hides a small part of the wall.
Below, a plaque recalls the terrorist attack carried out ten years earlier. Present since 2016 to commemorate the attack on freedom of expression, it has been protected in recent days to avoid any damage before the tribute ceremony planned for this Tuesday. Proof that despite Charlie's move, places remain associated with the media and threatened by those who fight it.
However, since March 2016, the premises have welcomed new tenants. The Real Estate Agency of the City of Paris (RIVP), owner of this business hotel, did not want the former headquarters of the newspaper to be transformed into a place of memory. No more than the survivors of the weekly, who also wanted the spaces to come back to life.
Renovation work and an “emotion upon entering the premises”
After the seals were lifted in June 2015, the lessor undertook renovation work. The holes from the bullet holes had been blocked, the walls repainted white, the partitions knocked down to make the former 280 m2 offices into an open space., rented at the time for 4,500 euros per month.
Desperately empty for more than a year, these premises located on the second floor finally found a buyer: the SOS group, specializing in the social and solidarity economy, took possession in March 2016. “We had an emotion when we entered the premises, its president, Jean-Marc Borello, confided to Le Parisien at the time. But it was the desire of the team and life must continue. »
The new address of the satirical newspaper kept secret
After his departure in November 2019, two other companies successively occupied these premises full of painful memories. Today, 10, rue Nicolas-Appert houses the training school for municipal police officers.
Despite the departure of the Charlie Hebdo editorial staff, 10, rue Nicolas-Appert was attacked again in 2020. An attacker armed with a chopper wanted to attack the newspaper without knowing that the team had moved. Enough to convince Charlie Hebdo journalists to continue to work discreetly. Housed for a time in the premises of the daily Libération after the attack, the editorial team moved to new hyper-secure premises in Paris in September 2015, but whose precise address remains secret.
