Paris shootings survivor sues French media

Authored by bbc.com and submitted by TJack303
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Image copyright France2 Image caption The details released by media presented a major threat to Lilian Lepere, his lawyer says

A man who hid from the Charlie Hebdo gunmen is suing French media who revealed his whereabouts.

Lilian Lepere stayed under a sink for eight hours after the gunmen began a siege at the printing shop in which he worked in a Paris suburb in January.

The men - Said and Cherif Kouachi - had killed 12 people at the Charlie Hebdo magazine the day before, and were later shot dead at the printing shop.

Mr Lepere says his life was endangered by details revealed on TV and radio.

The initial allegation of a man hiding at the factory in Dammartin en Goele was made on the RMC radio station by the area's French assembly member, Yves Albarello.

The claim was then repeated by the TF1 and France 2 television networks, two of France's largest.

Mr Lepere's whereabouts were also confirmed to France 2 by his sister, although it was never stated exactly where he was hiding.

After Mr Lepere's boss was freed by the gunmen, he continued to hide under the sink until the siege ended.

Mr Lepere then gave a detailed interview about his ordeal to France 2.

Image copyright Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images Image caption Complaints were also lodged after the coverage of the attack at the Hypercacher Jewish supermarket

He lodged a complaint with prosecutors in Paris last month, and an investigation against the networks was launched last week, French media say.

"The divulging of information in real time, while the Kouachi brothers - armed and dangerous - were able to follow how the operation was going, presented a real risk to Lilian," his lawyer, Antoine Casubolo Ferro, told Le Parisien newspaper.

The networks have not responded to the investigation.

In April, another lawsuit was lodged by survivors of a siege at a Jewish supermarket in Paris, that took place two days after the Charlie Hebdo massacre.

Gunman Amedy Coulibaly killed four people at the Hypercacher Jewish store on 9 January before police shot him.

Six of the survivors filed a lawsuit against television networks, saying live images broadcast from the supermarket scene "lacked the most basic precautions".

The_Pynto on April 4th, 2018 at 23:10 UTC »

"We are now live on the scene with our TV5 News helicopter where gunmen are on a rampage in the Parisian 11th district.

It seems as though one man has found refuge approximately twenty meters away from the nearest gunman. Yes, he's hiding behind what appears to be a newspaper box.

The gunman appears to now be looking around, periodically consulting what appears to be a small handheld device.

The man behind the red and blue Le Monde newspaper box appears to still be OK, though a bit panicked.

Oh no! It looks as though a gunman is looking directly towards the hiding man and may stumble across his hiding location!

He is getting warmer, warmer, yes still warmer. No wait! He has now stopped and is now walking in a different direction towards another red and blue box that is actually just a mailbox. Perhaps our innocent bystander is still safe.

He can only hope the gunman does not see his reflection in the window of the BNP Paribas bank that is 237 degrees from the direction the gunman is currently facing."

SuperMoquette on April 4th, 2018 at 21:46 UTC »

In fact the guy was hiding under a sink, in an uncomfortable position. He said the worst moment was when a terrorist use the sink and he could heard him. And feel water pouring on him.

TooShiftyForYou on April 4th, 2018 at 19:57 UTC »

Lepère hid inside a cardboard box and sent the Gendarmerie text messages for around three hours during the siege, providing them with "tactical elements such as [the brothers'] location inside the premises"

The only other worker in the building was the business owner who covered for Lepère by insisting to the terrorists 3 different times that there was no one else in the building.

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