Bodies of murdered RFI journalists returned to France from Mali
French President François Hollande was at Charles de Gaulle airport at 7.00 on Tuesday morning to greet the arrival of the plane carrying the bodies of the two RFI journalists killed in Mali on Saturday.
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He paid his respects to the families of journalists Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and Culture and Communications minister Aurelie Filippetti were also present to express their condolences.
The two journalists were found shot dead hours after being captured on Saturday in Kidal in northern Mali.
Members of Radio France International management also returned with the bodies of Ghislaine Dupont and Claude Verlon from Bamako.
“It was the moment of truth. Everything becomes real all of a sudden, faced with the pain of the families,” said Marie-Christine Saragosse, the President of France Médias Monde. “We are a little tired this morning. We spent a strange night, in the airplane. With them and without them. And we are a little exhausted from all this, and at the same time we are so proud of them.”
At the RFI building just outside Paris, there will be a period of two minutes silence today.
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