ALBAWABA – In a bid at appeasement French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the massacre of Algerian protestors in Paris who demanded their country’s independence in 1961 according to Petra News.
In a released statement by the Elysee Palace Macron recognized the facts that the crimes committed that night under the then chief of police Maurice Papon are “inexcusable for the Republic” in reference to France according to the Jordan news agency.
As expected, the French president did not issue a formal apology for the deadly crackdown by Paris police on a 1961 protest by Algerianshttps://t.co/XjtXljFc4G
— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) October 16, 2021
On 17 October, 1961 as Algerian protestors marched peacefully 300 of them were killed according to a report carried by the Anadolu news agency. It stated that Macron recognized the level of state violence meted out against the thousands of protestors by the police.
In a tribute to victims who were killed and drowned in the Seine River, Macron laid a wreath at the foot of the Pont de Bezons near Nanterre in northern Paris, the site of the tragedy. He also interacted with the families of victims who were present in a ceremony in remembrance of the 60th anniversary of the massacre.
“This tragedy was long hushed up, denied or concealed.”
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) October 16, 2021
Emmanuel Macron condemns ‘inexcusable’ 1961 massacre of Algerian protesters by Paris police, the scale of which was covered up by French authorities for decades https://t.co/0uVq9TcIUg pic.twitter.com/xn4El5n0bE
Macron was reputed to have said the deadly 1961 crackdown revealed the horror of “massacres and crimes against humanity that will remain in the collective memory,” according to the TRT website.
However, many critics says this is not enough especially since Macron stopped short of a “formal apology” to the bloody mayhem by the French police. French politicians long sought to cover up the massacre. However socialist president Francois Hollande acknowledged in 2012 that the protesting Algerians were “killed during a bloody repression.” No more hush up. The statement from the Elysee recognized that "this tragedy was long hushed-up, denied or concealed," as reported by AFP.
In a brutal crackdown, police arrested more than 12,000 Algerians -- the largest-ever roundup in a single day -- and assaulted several hundred men and women, many of whom were killed and thrown into the Seine Anadolu concluded.
