"There you go, Mr. Putin. The beautiful person you have killed," said Frederic Leclerc -Imhoff's mother. She was fatally injured by shrapnel in the Ukraine at the end May, when she was participating in a rally. To pay tribute to him, I am in Paris.
His family and his colleagues from BFMTV including reporter Maxime brandstaetter, who teamed up in Ukraine with him, Sam Cottet, his partner, were there, along Marc-Olivier Fogiel (general manager of BFMTV) and Christophe Deloire (secretary general of RSF ), who noted an AFP journalist.
Sylviane imhoff said Frederic was "sweet and joyous person, so don’t be sad", in front of hundreds of people who participated in the rally at the call RSF. She also recalled the story of her son.
She referred to past reports involving chambermaids at large hotels, in particular, and said, "Giving voice to the most humble, the invisible".
"The editorial staff are in mourning. Marc-Olivier Fogiel said that we mourn a dedicated journalist, calling him a professional who was not a "hothead" but who "wanted the world to know". He said that the channel would continue to report on the conflict.
Sam Cottet, Sam's companion, reminded the journalist how important his job was to him, despite his precarious situation. He described a nearly year-long relationship with Sam Cottet, his companion. It was characterized by a deep and radical activism that was sometimes joyful, sometimes challenging, and even unsustainable.
The rally was marked with chants, Jean Ferrat's "Ma France", which were echoed by the crowd. There was also a long period of applause.
Frederic LeclercImhoff's body, which was struck by shrapnel in a bombardment on May 30, was repatriated to France from Wednesday to Thursday. Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture, witnessed the repatriation. His colleagues at BFMTV observed silence for a minute in his honor on Wednesday morning.
This tall, dark-haired, 32-year-old man, with soft features, was working for BFMTV for six-years and was currently on his second mission in Ukraine as a journalist/image reporter (JRI).
He graduated in 2014 and was trained at Ijba (Institut de Journalism Bordeaux Aquitaine), having studied philosophy in Paris. Many of his Ijba friends said that he died doing the thing that gave meaning and purpose to his life on Friday.
Christophe Deloire, RSF, said that he was the eighth journalist to be killed in this conflict. He described himself as a "brilliant, committed, passionate, and benevolent" professional.
The French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office, (Pnat), announced that a war crimes investigation would be opened after the death of the journalist. Catherine Colonna, French Foreign Minister, tweeted that the journalist was "killed in a Russian bombardment".
