“Most of the bosses are people who have big egos, who have made their careers and who have risen in the hierarchy of the underworld through intimidation. These people get their way and become feared precisely because they intimidate. »
Published at 5:00 a.m.
Reading the revelations of The Press on the murder contract targeting reporter Daniel Renaud, Jean-Pierre Charbonneau suspected that he would be called upon to react. In 1973, the former investigative journalist and ex-president of the National Assembly was shot in the arm in the middle of the newsroom of the Duty. Gunman Tony Mucci and his friends resented his tight coverage of organized crime.
Read “A “contract” on the head of a journalist from The Press »
Friday, the sinister news of the day about our colleague did not surprise him in the least. “I’m not surprised, even if we’re still stunned, shocked by it,” he admitted in an interview.
PHOTO JEAN-YVES LÉTOURNEAU, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Police officers investigating the newsroom Duty after the attack against Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, on 1is May 1973. In the center of the photo: Claude Ryan, then director of the daily.
For Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, times have not changed much since he survived a mafioso’s attack against him. “It is not surprising that we find individuals in this world who are shocked by the spotlight of the news and the journalistic work which highlights their situation. »
Be careful, violent bosses
Of course, criminals are less active in Quebec than in Mexico or Colombia, where the murders of journalists are almost part of daily life. But for Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, reporters who cover organized crime must remember that “violence remains a major characteristic of the underworld.”
That doesn’t mean that we have to give up this coverage, but we have to be aware of what that means. And this is even more true when we produce journalism that is not complacent with the bosses.
Jean-Pierre Charbonneau, former investigative journalist and former president of the National Assembly
More than 50 years after the attack on his person and 24 years after the Hells Angels’ assassination attempt on Michel Auger in the parking lot of the Montreal JournalJean-Pierre Charbonneau agrees that Quebec has experienced few violent events of this type. “We can sometimes even wonder why there weren’t more,” underlined the author of The Canadian sectora book on the history of Montreal organized crime published in 2002.
The threats against Daniel Renaud serve today as a reminder of the “unpredictable” nature of organized crime.
“We may find ourselves for years having people who are capable of handling the pressure that the media puts on them, and at other times, we will find ourselves with people who are crazy about being talked about. »
In short, covering the underworld is a bit like covering a war zone, believes Jean-Pierre Charbonneau. “Even if you have protection, bulletproof vests, etc., there are all kinds of things that can happen. »
