Charlene and Albert of Monaco united to pay tribute to the...

After the drama, place to meditation. This November 7, a ceremony was organized in the morning on the hill of the castle, a park overlooking the city of Nice and its Mediterranean bay, a strong symbol of resistance. The country paid tribute to the three dead, killed by a terrorist on October 29 at the Basilica of Notre Dame de l’Assomption.

Portant “condolences from the whole nation“, Prime Minister Jean Castex declared:”It is France which is targeted each time and is the target of terrorism but Nice will have paid a heavy price [la ville avait aussi été ciblée en juillet 2016 et 86 personnes avaient été tuées, NDLR] (…) On October 29, a terrorist stole three lives from the very heart of a church. No religious celebration is an offense in a secular Republic which respects Religion for what it is, the expression of an intimate conviction. Terrorism attacks who we are, what makes our identity, our freedom, our culture and finally our lives. The enemy, we know him, not only is he identified, but he has a name, it is radical Islamism.“

A speech delivered under the eyes of former President Nicolas Sarkozy, the Mayor of Nice Christian Estrosi accompanied by his wife, journalist Laura Tenoudji, as well as the President of the Senate, Gérard Larcher. We also noted the presence of Prince Albert II of Monaco, who came with his wife Charlene, discreet and sober in a gray suit with thin stripes and a protective mask against the coronavirus on his face. The couple had come to support the principality.

During this ceremony, the Marseillaise resonated as well as a song by Gilberto Gil and the title What a Wonderful World. We could note the presence of the musician Gautier Capuçon. Jean Castex also handed over to the victims posthumously the national medal of recognition for victims of terrorism. The three deceased, whose portraits have been exhibited are Nadine Devillers (60 years), Vincent Loquès (54 years old) and Simone Barreto Silva (44 years). After the flame of faith was lit, the actress Muriel Mayette-Holtz, director of the National Theater of Nice, came forward to read a text by the writer Romain Gary, reports AFP. Three cannon shots were symbolically fired at the end of the ceremony, after the Prime Minister’s address.

Jean Castex also decorated in the name of the President of the Republic the seven municipal police officers who intervened to arrest the assailant. The terrorist, Brahim Aouissaoui, only 21 years old and of Tunisian nationality, is hospitalized in Paris.