Survivor of the terrorist attack against Charlie Hebdo in 2015, Simon Fieschi ended his life on the night of Thursday October 17 to Friday October 18, his loved ones learned Liberation et franceinfo this Saturday, October 19. Aged 40, father of a 5-year-old daughter, he had been severely disabled since the attack.
“Scars that never heal”
His life changed on January 7, 2015 when he had been webmaster of Charlie Hebdo. That day, he was the first in the editorial staff to be targeted by the Kouachi brothers’ shots. A bullet had hit his spinal cord. Paralyzed for several months, he underwent intense rehabilitation sessions before being able to walk again, with the help of a crutch.
“Survivor of the attack on “Charlie”, Simon Fieschi struggled to overcome the horror of which he had been one of the victims. There are scars that many no longer see but which never heal. I will never forget Simon. I send my affection to his family,” greeted the former President of the Republic, François Hollande, on X.
“Thoughts of Simon Fieschi, his loved ones and all the victims of terrorism. Current and past”, National police spokesperson Sonia Fibleuil also reacted on X.
“The duty to testify”
“Simon Fieschi was a man of exceptional sensitivity and intelligence,” announced on X, the honorary president of the 13onze15 association, Georges Salines, recalling that the former journalist “was one of those who went with us to the schools to talk to the students and support the teachers.”
“As a survivor, we have duties, that of bearing witness to what the weapons of war do, to what the bullets did to me,” he insisted in 2020 before the Special Assize Court, which was trying fourteen people suspected of having helped the perpetrators of the January 2015 attacks.
Recently, Simon Fieschi attended the trial of jihadist Peter Cherif, sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in Yemen with Chérif Kouachi, one of the attackers of the attack on Charlie Hebdo et for the kidnapping of three humanitarian workers in 2011. A trial in which Simon Fieschi was a civil party and during which he was very involved and testified.
