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France’s Emmanuel Macron says deadly 1961 crackdown on Algerian protesters was ‘inexcusable’
- The French president marked the 60th anniversary of the protest by acknowledging that ‘crimes’ were committed and dozens were killed
- The rally was called in the final year of France’s increasingly violent attempt to retain Algeria as a north African colony
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French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday condemned as “inexcusable” a deadly crackdown by Paris police on a 1961 protest by Algerians, the scale of which was covered up for decades, disappointing activists who hoped for an even stronger recognition of responsibility.
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Macron told relatives of victims on the 60th anniversary of the bloodshed that “crimes” were committed on the night of October 17, 1961 under the command of the notorious Paris police chief Maurice Papon.
He acknowledged that several dozen protesters had been killed, “their bodies thrown into the River Seine” and paid tribute to their memory.
The precise number of victims has never been made clear and some activists fear several hundred could have been killed.
Macron “recognised the facts: that the crimes committed that night under Maurice Papon are inexcusable for the Republic”, the Elysee said.
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“This tragedy was long hushed-up, denied or concealed,” it added in a statement.
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