“Justice will be done, I am not angry”, testifies Christian Lantenois before the trial of his alleged attackers

The former journalist from “L’Union” was violently attacked in 2021 in the Croix-Rouge district, while he was covering a brawl between two rival gangs.

“I think justice will be done, I’m not angry”, testified former photojournalist Christian Lantenois to France Bleu Champagne-Ardenne, Sunday September 29, before the opening, Monday, in Reims (Marne), of the trial of his alleged attackers. The former journalist of The Union was violently attacked on February 27, 2021, in the Croix-Rouge district of Reims, while covering a brawl between two rival gangs. His camera was also stolen. He was left for dead and remained in a coma for four weeks, before being released from hospital.

More than three years after the events, Christian Lantenois still has physical after-effects. “I have facial paralysis on the right side. I had a fracture of the rock in my ear, so I have less hearing, less sense of smell too, but for me, everything is fine”he explains. Part of his brain was also affected during the attack: “It’s the frontal area, a whole part that concerns reflexes and concentration.” The former journalist explains that he no longer has “personal initiatives”. Indeed, his wife, Jocelyne Lantenois, specifies that he “no longer does anything alone” and that she is “on the initiative of things”for example for the shower or lunch.

Christian Lantenois no longer works at The Union. “Occupational medicine put me into retirement”he regrets. “I had habits, jumping on a news story or a demonstration, that was the attraction of the job.” This trial should open debates on freedom of expression and the right to information. “When the two gangs come to fight, there is a witness who is there, with a camera and a screen-printed vehicle,” says Me Gérard Chemla. “This witness becomes unbearable because we must be able to settle accounts underground, just as we live underground,” SO “we are going to eliminate the witness and attack transparency and the revelation of the truth”adds the lawyer. According to him, “It’s a way of locking down society.”

“The trial must punish these people for what they did to a man and for the dramatic attack they bring to the freedom of all of us.”

Gérard Chemla, lawyer for Christian Lantenois

at franceinfo

The two defendants are now adults, but one of them was a minor at the time of the events. This is why the trial is being held behind closed doors at the Marne juvenile court. The prosecution or the accused may, however, request the lifting of this closed session.. “As a lawyer, I will ask that the debates be open”says the victim’s lawyer, Me Gérard Chemla, to France Bleu Champagne-Ardenne. “Judging the attack on a journalist on the sly seems to be a snub to what happened. Everyone needs to know and understand”he continues.

The main suspect, who was an adult at the time of the events, is in pre-trial detention. The other, who was a minor, is under judicial supervision. Their trial is expected to last four days.