“The threat has not disappeared,” testifies former security manager Eric Delbecq

After the attack on “Charlie Hebdo” on January 7, 2015, the security of certain members was greatly reinforced. But it was also necessary to reorganize the entire editorial life. For two years, this was Eric Delbecq’s mission.

For ten years, the most exposed personalities in the editorial staff have been taken care of by the personal protection service of the national police. But it was necessary to review the internal organization more broadly. After the attack, Eric Delbecq then became the newspaper’s security director. “Be certain that the security of the site is constantly homogeneous, supervise this security and the work of the private security agents, knowing that, as everyone knows today, we have armed private security agents. And that means say of course a gunsmith.”

It was also necessary to secure public travel. The internal security expert remains deliberately vague, but it is indeed 360-degree work that has been carried out. Eric Delbecq had to “identifying people on the internet who made credible threats and trying to detect those who could really be more dangerous than others also means taking care of filing complaints. It’s quite an adventure to sort out this kind of system .”

During the two years of his mission, he had to adapt to the trauma. “It’s quite difficult to talk about it but for example an external protection device must be both compact, hyper-attentive and as discreet as possibleexplique Eric Delbecq. We will ask, particularly for what concerns the private team, to be extremely relaxed and smiling. That doesn’t mean not being vigilant, but there is a certain type of behavior to adopt that excludes the cowboy mentality.”

Eric Delbecq is still in contact with members of Charlie Hebdo. Discussions no longer revolve around security, he smiles, even if the threat has not disappeared. “Today, speaking and drawing are a source of threathe notes. Since that period, we have experienced so many episodes which are extensions of this jihadist violence, ultimately. Most of our population does not always bear in mind that approximately every month and a half, two months, the DGSI arrests people who are preparing Islamist attacks.”

This Islamist threat puts to the test “the Charlie spirit”. Today, if Eric Delbecq takes up his pen, it is above all to claim the importance, in our country, of freedom of expression that jihadists wanted to reduce under their bullets.