Macron recognises 1961 massacre of Algerians as ‘unforgivable crime’

“France recognises the clearly established responsibilities,” the Elysée said on Saturday on the occasion of the commemoration of a massacre of Algerians that took place in Paris 60 years ago under the authority of former police prefect Maurice Papon.

“This is the first time that a head of state has used the word ‘crime’ in association with the question of the state and the Republic,” said historian Benjamin Stora, as quoted by French news channel FranceInfo.

On 17 October 1961, Algerians demonstrated in Paris, following a call from the French federation of the National Liberation Front to protest a decree prohibiting them from leaving their homes after 8:30 pm.

Despite the restriction, some 25,000 demonstrators took to the streets on the evening of 17 October. Brutal police measures resulted in the arrest of 12,000 Algerians and the killing of dozens of others whose bodies were thrown into the Seine river.

“Our country owes it first and foremost to itself and to all those whom the Algerian war and its trail of crimes committed on all sides have bruised in their flesh and in their soul. And we owe it in particular to our youth, so that it doesn’t stay locked up in memory conflicts and can build its future, in mutual respect and recognition,” the Elysée said in its statement, published on the occasion of the 60th-anniversary commemoration ceremony.

(Magdalena Pistorius | EURACTIV.fr)