“We talk a lot about journalists, but it is rather the courage of the people who testify that we must“, reacted this Saturday, October 8 on franceinfo Maurine Mercier. The correspondent in Ukraine for Franceinfo and RTS is the winner of the Bayeux prize for war reporters in the Radio category for her report produced in April in Boutcha, Ukraine. A city that has become sadly famous for the abuses committed by the Russians.The journalist collected the testimony of a woman who had been raped for two and a half weeks under the eyes of her 13-year-old daughter.
franceinfo: How do you perceive your reward?
Maurine Mercier: I feel like this award is this mother who deserves it. We talk a lot about journalists, but it is rather the courage of the people who testify that should be noted. I dedicate my prize to this woman. I wanted to have a megaphone so people could hear him.
“She told me that she would testify only once, because she would not have the courage to do it twice, and that it was up to me to make her voice heard.”
Maurine Mercier, winner of the Bayeux prize, radio category.France Info
That’s why these prizes go to the people who testify and to the victims. This woman said something about the reality of the war in Ukraine and made it possible to draw a portrait of these brigades which raged in Boutcha and showed incredible violence.
How did you produce this report?
I tried to get to Boutcha as soon as possible and I didn’t leave Boutcha for eight to ten days. I interviewed every woman I met. Four, five women told me they had been raped and only this woman found the courage to testify on the microphone. It was a long-term job. When I met this mother, I wanted to give her time to renounce this testimony.
“When we arrive in Boutcha, we are dealing with people who are in states of acute trauma.”
Maurine Mercier, winner of the Bayeux prize in the radio categoryFrance Info
I really wanted to give her time to find out if she really wanted to testify or not. She took 48 hours to tell me yes. There, she delivered me in a sort of camera, a testimony, for three hours. She gave me all the details coldly.
Do you still have contact with this woman?
Yes, I kept in touch. I am committed to giving him this award next week. She is in Boutcha with her daughter and her mother who is 75 and cannot leave. That’s why they suffered the occupation because there was this grandmother in the house who was not healthy enough to be able to leave Boutcha. This is why they had to suffer the rapes. This mother decided to file a complaint. These are slow procedures.
Has your job changed since the start of the conflict?
Yes, because I decided to settle there. So I went from the status of special envoy to permanent correspondent in Ukraine. We approach things differently and we realize that we will have to be very enduring because it is a war that lasts and will certainly last. We must not tire people, succeed in investigating despite the propaganda.