From 1992 to 2009, Philippe Val was part of the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo. Ten years after the terrorist attack which cost the lives of eight members of the satirical newspaper's editorial staff as well as four other people, the journalist spoke to Dimitri Pavlenko's microphone, recounting in particular his arrival at the scene of the attack. 'attack.
10 years ago, the brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi entered the premises of Charlie Hebdo to carry out an attack, killing eight members of the satirical newspaper's editorial staff and four other people, including two police officers. This Tuesday, Philippe Val, former publishing director at the newspaper where he spent nearly twenty years of his life, returned to this funeral day at the microphone of Dimitri Pavlenko.
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“Don’t go up at all”
“This January 7, 2015, I am at home, I am working. I leave my house and I see that the surrounding wall of my house has been tagged and that worries me even though I am not of a worried nature at all,” confides the journalist. “Just as I decided to call the police station, I got a call from my childhood friend who told me there was a shooting in Charlie. There, I felt like a bucket of ice water on my head, even if I don't yet know the consequences of this shooting”.
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Philippe Val recounts how he then received a call from the Ministry of the Interior asking him to barricade himself in his home while waiting for the police. Under police escort, he finally decided to go to the headquarters of Charlie Hebdo, rue Nicolas Appert in the 11th arrondissement of the capital. He says that his arrival coincided with that of the Prime Minister at the time, Manuel Valls.
“He tells me to wait and all my life, I will see this scene again that still passes through my head at night,” confides Philippe Val before continuing: “Manuel Valls comes back down to the verge of fainting. And he tells me: don't go up at all.I don't know why, but I have a kind of gratitude for Manuel Valls. Already because I like him and he's a friend but gThanks to him, I don't have this image in my head to chase away. I didn't see it.”
Also listen – “10 years ago… the Charlie Hebdo attack”: the new podcast series Au Cœur de l’Actu narrated by Philippe Val
