Paris holds solemn ceremonies to remember victims of January 2015 attacks

The French capital payed tribute on Thursday to the victims of the terror attacks that occurred at the beginning of 2015. The ceremonies were "marked by sobriety", due to reinforced health measures in the context of the Covid-19 crisis.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo (third from R) arrives with French officials and former president François Hollande (second from L) to pay their respects outside Charlie Hebdo's former offices on 7 January, 2021 in Paris. © AFP/Thomas Coex

Six years after the events and nearly three weeks after the end of the trial, Paris this week commemorates the deadly attacks that took place between 7 and 9 January 2015.

The ceremonies are "placed under the sign of sobriety, dignity and meditation", the city explained.

"6 years later, Paris remembers and pays tribute to the victims of the January 2015 attacks. Let’s never forget them", said socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo on Twitter.

6 ans après, rue Nicolas Appert.
Paris se souvient. pic.twitter.com/YTxh2AoD41

— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) January 7, 2021

The tributes began on Thursday morning in front of the commemorative plaques unveiled in 2016, in the presence of Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, the Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and former president François Hollande, as well as survivors and relatives of the victims.

The arrangements were designed "in accordance with the wishes of the families", "taking into account health measures and in order to preserve the privacy" of the people present.

The victims include 12 staff members from Charlie Hebdo, a French policewoman who tried to stop the attackers and four Jewish men killed at the Hyper Cacher market near Porte de Vincennes.

The Charlie Hebdo attacks trial spread over three months of extraordinary hearings last year and the special court in Paris handed down its verdict on 16 December.

All 14 suspects received guilty verdicts for helping brothers Said and Cherif Kouachi and Amedy Coulibaly plan and carry out attacks that claimed 17 lives over three days in January 2015.