Simon Fieschi, who was seriously injured in the attack on Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, has died, the Paris prosecutor’s office and his lawyer said on Saturday. “An investigation into the causes of death was opened following the discovery of the body of Simon Fieschi on October 17”indicated the prosecution, which specified that“no hypothesis” could not be privileged at this stage. “An autopsy was ordered, the findings of which were unable to determine the cause of death. Investigations continue »adds the source.
According to a source close to the matter, the body of the former webmaster of the satirical weekly was found Thursday in a hotel room in Paris. He was 40 years old.
“Contrary to what has been announced by certain media, there is no evidence in favor of a voluntary action at this stage of the investigations and the causes of death are still currently unknown”underlined for her part her lawyer Me Nathalie Senyk, calling “everyone to be particularly vigilant before the final report of the investigation”.
Many tributes
Many people praised his memory on X. The editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo said “devastated by the death of (her) friend”described as “funny, lively, tireless defender of freedom”in a message on the social network. “Simon Fieschi was struggling 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”reacted François Hollande, President of the Republic at the time of the attack on Charlie Hebdo.
Simon Fieschi was the first victim of the Chérif and Saïd Kouachi brothers when they entered the editorial offices, hit by a Kalashnikov bullet fired at point blank range by one of the two attackers. He had survived, although with serious after-effects. He recounted in a poignant article published in October 2020 in Charlie Hebdo his slow return to life after waking up from a coma, punctuated by unbearable pain.
Faced with high school students, he claimed to feel a “survivor’s guilt”. “I coped differently because I was injured. I felt like I had paid the fare. We often see a reversal of guilt: it’s as if it was the fault of the one who took the bullet and not the one who shot it. We were attacked for what we did: didn’t we look for it a little? At trial, the innocent feel bad and those who don’t feel guilty are in the box.he declared, according to comments transcribed on the website of the French Association of Victims of Terrorism.
Trial of Peter Cherif
In September, he attended the trial of Peter Cherif, sentenced to life imprisonment by the Paris Special Assize Court. The jihadist was judged in particular for the role he had played, while he was part of the ranks of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (Aqpa), with Chérif Kouachi before the attack.
Called to testify, Simon Fieschi, who only moved with a crutch, declared, unlike the other civil parties to the trial, that he had “all the answers” that he wanted, while Peter Cherif refused to answer questions from magistrates and lawyers on his exact role with the assailant. “The pain is lifelong. We can’t get rid of it. (…) From now on, I have to do lifelong rehabilitation work”he told the Paris Special Assize Court.
“I am in post-trauma and I will stay there for the rest of my life. (…) It’s a daily mental effort, an abysmal fatigue”he continued, evoking pell-mell the “tremors” on the legs, “loss of motor skills”THE “difficulty concentrating”, “episodes of sadness and anger”…
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