Emmanuel Macron condemns 1961 massacre of Algerians during 1961 Paris Protests

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday condemned the killing of dozens of Algerians nearly 60 years ago during a police crackdown. In an official statement issued by the Élysée Palace, French leader Macron denounced the Algerian killing as an “inexcusable” crime, as he said that the “repression was brutal, violent and bloody.” Although the leader stopped short of an apology. His remarks came after he attended a 60th-anniversary ceremony in the outskirts of Paris, where the relatives of the Algerian victims, campaigners, and veterans of Algeria’s independence movement were present. Macron observed a minute of silence at the Bezons bridge, the site where revolt started and led to the 1961 Paris massacre of the pro-Algerian protesters. 

“Crimes committed that night under the authority of Maurice Papon are inexcusable for the Republic,” the French President Emmanuel Macron said in an official statement issued by Élysée Palace.

”France looks at its entire history with lucidity and recognizes the clearly established responsibilities. It owes it first and foremost to itself, to all those whom the Algerian war and its procession of crimes committed on all sides have bruised in their flesh and in their soul.

[France has not officially recognized the 1961 Algerian massacre. Credit: Twitter/@MoonstarTw]

Macron paid homage to memory of all victims

French President Macron’s office statement read that the Federation of France of the FLN protests against the decree of October 5, that prohibited only Algerians from leaving their homes after 8:30 p.m. It further stated that despite the ban on the demonstration, more than 25,000 men, women, and children made their way to various assembly points, of whom, close to 12,000 were arrested and transferred to sorting centers at the Coubertin Stadium. Many were wounded, several dozen were killed, their bodies were thrown into the Seine, the French President’s office statement read. It added that since many families never found the bodies of the victims, the President of the Republic pays homage to the memory of all the victims. 

The Algerian massacre tragedy was long denied or concealed, but the first commemorations were organized by the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë as well as by other elected representatives of France. At least sixty years later, French President Macron arrived at the Bezons bridge, near Nanterre, from where many demonstrators left that day and observed the tragic event. The actual figure of the death toll remains unclear tip date,  and the scale of the killings was also concealed for over several years. The Paris police prefect at the time was Maurice Papon, who was later convicted for crimes against humanity.