“We cannot sanitize trials for an attack by not showing anything”believes Riss, cartoonist and editorial director of Charlie Hebdo on franceinfo Friday, September 16. He testified Thursday during the appeal trial of the Charlie and Hyper Cacher attacks. While the images of the attacks are projected during the trials of the July 14 attack in Nice and that of Charlie, Riss believes that their dissemination is not made for the victims but for the jury. The Charlie Hebdo and Hyper Cacher attacks killed 17 people in January 2015.
franceinfo: How do you see this appeal trial, is it an additional ordeal?
Riss, managing editor of Charlie Hebdo : For all the witnesses who lived through these events, yes it is difficult to start telling all that again. Events must be brought to life so that the court is informed and can make the decisions it will have to make. It is essential for the court. And then we realize that even two years later, while discussing, we still discover things ourselves. Details we didn’t know. Between us, we don’t talk about it that much, not in detail as we are obliged to do in a trial.
You recalled on Thursday that Charlie Hebdo was always a target. Is a terrorist attack always possible?
Potentially, I think it’s a newspaper that can still excite people. Our past experience leads us to be suspicious. When you see what happened with Salman Rushdie, overconfidence can be tragic. It’s kind of the same scenario. After quite a few years, we can believe that things are improving and that we will return to a normal life. Unfortunately, I don’t think we can take that risk.
The images of the attacks were projected on Thursday in the trial of the July 14 attack in Nice. You yourself had to undergo this ordeal, review the images of the killing of Charlie Hebdo. In what state of mind do we arrive at these hearing days?
You shouldn’t see these images as something you suffer, but as something you communicate to people who don’t realize it. It’s not so much for ourselves, because we’ve been through it, it doesn’t bring us much more. People sometimes talk about an attack but they don’t realize what it is. Of course the images must be broadcast, otherwise how can the court find out what it is? Otherwise it becomes abstract. You cannot sanitize trials for attacks by not showing anything, you have to show things. The jury must be informed, it is he who will make the decisions, not the victims.
How can everyone be better informed?
Participate in the consultation initiated as part of the European project De facto on the Make.org platform. Franceinfo is the partner