The Algerian delegation throws roses in homage to the Algerians drowned in the Seine on October 17, 1961

Algerian athletes took advantage of the opening ceremony of the Paris Games on Friday to pay tribute to their compatriots killed by the French police during the war of independence.

A very strong political image. The Algerian delegation threw roses into the Seine, during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, Friday, July 26, 2024, in tribute to the Algerian demonstrators killed by the French police on October 17, 1961 in the middle of the war of independence. UA rare memorial gesture in an Olympic opening ceremony.

“This gesture is a tribute to the martyrs of October 17, 1961. Long live Algeria, long live Algeria, long live Algeria”said a member of the Algerian delegation in a video broadcast on the X account of an Algerian public television channel. All the members of the Algerian delegation who were on the boat then threw roses into the Seine, next to a bridge from which Algerians were thrown by the French police.

On October 17, 1961, dozens of peaceful demonstrators were victims of a bloody and murderous repression, committed under the authority of the police prefect of the time, Maurice Papon. According to historians, in addition to many injured, between thirty and 200 demonstrators were killed and their bodies thrown into the Seine. These Algerians were demonstrating for the independence of their country.

On March 28, 2024, the French National Assembly approved a proposal condemning the “massacre” October 1961. In 2012, President François Hollande made “tribute to the victims” of a “bloody repression” having fallen on these women and men demonstrating for “the right to independence”His successor, Emmanuel Macron, declared in 2021 that “the crimes committed on October 17, 1961 under the authority of Maurice Papon (were) inexcusable for the Republic.”