The remains of journalist Frederic Leclerc Imhoff, who was killed in Ukraine, arrived in France overnight. They were received by his relatives, family members, and Rima Abdul Malak, Minister of Culture.
A moment of reflection took place in front of his black coffin. His body arrived at Le Bourget airport around 3:00 a.m., according to journalists from his news channel. Continuously BFMTV.
His colleagues from BFMTV observed a minute silence on Wednesday morning in memory of the journalist who was killed by a shrapnel on May 30, 2012.
On Friday, a tribute will be paid to him at Place de la Republique, Paris, at the request of Reporters Without Borders. His family, friends, and colleagues will all be there.
The two people who teamed up with Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff in Ukraine for BFMTV, reporter Maxime Brandstaetter and Ukrainian journalist-translator Oksana Leuta, for their part returned to France on June 3.
"His parents were there to greet us as we got off the plane. They were the first people that I saw, and it was difficult," testified Mr. Brandstaetter on Sunday, BFMTV. He was visibly moved. The reporter continued, "I felt that he owed me that, to talk with his parents, get closer to him, feel close to them, and to kiss his mom," he said.
Oksana Leuta felt it was "very important" that Frederic's story be told to the entire world.
Frederic Leclerc -Imhoff, 32, had been working for BFMTV for six year and was now on his second mission in Ukraine as a journalist/image reporter (JRI).
"Frederic wasn't a hothead. Marc-Olivier Fogiel was the general manager of BFMTV and he said that he weighed every minute of the mission.
He graduated in 2014 and was trained in journalism at Ijba (Institut of Journalism Bordeaux Aquitaine). After studying philosophy in Paris, he studied journalism.
The Ijba pays tribute to its kindness and listening skills in a tribute posted on its website. He was not "discreet" in nature but he "defended with fervor, humor and a lot of heart" his "commitments as both a man" and "a citizen".
After the news of the death of the journalist, who was on a humanitarian mission to Ukraine, the French anti-terrorist prosecutor's Office (Pnat), announced that an investigation had been opened for war crimes.
Catherine Colonna, Foreign Minister, tweeted that the journalist was "killed in a Russian bombardment".
