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Gilles Jacquier

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Gilles Jacquier
Born(1968-10-25)25 October 1968
Évian-les-Bains,France
Died11 January 2012(2012-01-11)(aged 43)
Homs,Syria
Cause of deathRocket attack
NationalityFrench
EducationESRA
OccupationPhotojournalist
PartnerCaroline Poiron
ChildrenApoline and Cloée (born 2010)

Gilles Jacquier(25 October 1968[1]– 11 January 2012) was a FrenchphotojournalistandreporterforFrance Télévisions.Jacquier worked as a special correspondent forEnvoyé spécial,one of France's best known documentary programs which airs onFrance 2.[2] He had a successful career, has covered major international military conflicts and won many awards during his life.[3]He was killed on 11 January 2012 while covering the ongoingSyrian Civil WarinHoms,Syria.[2]Jacquier was the first Western journalist killed in Syria since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War.[4]

Biography

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Career

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Jacquier was born inÉvian-les-Bainsand started his career in 1991 as a reporter images forFrance 3Lille.[5]From 1994 to 1998, he worked for France 3 all around the world in many countries, such asSouth Africa,Japan,Nepal.[5]

Then, he worked for France 2 from 1999 to 2006 as a reporter to the editor and have dealt with conflicts army inIraq,Afghanistan,Kosovo.[5]In 2002, Jacquier was shot and wounded near the al Ainrefugee campoutsideNablusin the northernWest Bankwhile covering theSecond Intifadafor France 2.[6]Jacquier, who was wearing abullet proof vest,was shot in thecollarboneand recovered.[6]Speaking of his experiences, Jacquier said in an interview, "I hate war but in war zone I can meet real people... Most of the time people are really themselves, very sincere in front of acameraand it's impossible not be moved by their suffering... Above all, I like filming people as close as possible to the action, with theiremotions,but withoutvoyeurism."[2]

Since 2006, Jacquier worked forEnvoyé Spécialand reported from all over the world. He worked as awar correspondentfor more than twenty years.[2]He shot and submitted most of his own footage.[2]Jacquier reported on location from conflicts inAfghanistan,Algeria,Iraq,theDemocratic Republic of the Congo,thewars in the former Yugoslavia,and, more recently, theArab Springfrom 2010 to 2012.[2]

Personal life

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Jacquier had a partner, Caroline Poiron. She is a reporter-photographer working forParis Match.[7]They have twin girls: Apoline and Cloée (born 2010).[8]

Gilles Jacquier was the son of Georges Jacquier, who was baker and founder of a ski school atBernex.His mother died two weeks after the birth of Jacquier's children. His grandfather was the mayor ofBernexfor thirty years.[8]

Death

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In 2012, Jacquier enteredSyriawith a visa to cover theSyrian Civil WaragainstBashar al-Assad.[2]Jacquier and cameraman, Christophe Kenck, were allowed to travel to the city of Homs, a stronghold of the opposition revolt, with the permission of the Syrian government.[9]

On 11 January 2012, Jacquier was interviewing local Syrian businesspeople and traveling to a Homs hospital, when a pro-government demonstration organized nearby.[10]It has been claimed that Jacquier was killed in a rocket attack while reporting.[10][11]and that seven other people were also killed in the attack.[10]His wife claims that he was killed by the government, namely in a plot carried out byAssef Shawkat,Maher al-Assad,Ali Mamluk,andMichel Samaha.She also claims he was killed either by a 22 millimeter gun associated with Syrian secret police or a long knife.[12]Other journalists, as Jacques Duplessy, Patrick Vallélian and Sid Ahmed Hammouche, who were present in Homs the day Gilles Jacquier was killed also think the Syrian regime was responsible for this death.[13][14]A regime defector also claims Gilles Jacquier was deliberately killed in a planned government attack.[15][16]

Context

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Homs is a power base for opponents of the government of Syrian PresidentBashar al-Assadmeet.[17]

Two Swiss journalists, Patrick Vallélian ofL'Hebdoand Sid Ahmed Hammouche ofLa Liberté,who were also working in Homs, accused the Syrian government of being behind the attack that killed Jacquier.[18][19]Opposition groups also accused the Syrian government of orchestrating the Homs attack. Other opposition sources and Arab League observers blamed anti-Assad rebels.[20]Arab League mission reports from Homs state that Jacquier was killed by mortar shells fired by opposition forces.[21]This version is denied by his wife and colleagues, who consider the wounds don't match with a death by mortar.[22]French prosecutors announced a murder investigation into his death, while the French government launched its own independent inquiry.[23]The investigation by the French Ministry of Defence concluded that Jacquier had been killed in an attack carried out by anti-Assad rebels.[24]Caroline Poiron, Jacquier's wife, published the bookAttentat Expressin June 2013 with Vallélian and Hammouche that accuses Syrian government intelligence of a planned killing of her husband.[25][26]

Reactions and awards

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Reactions

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The head of information forFrance Télévisions,Thierry Thuillier, called Jacquier one of the best journalists working for the group.[2]On 23 January 2012,France Télévisionsnamed one of its studios "studio Gilles Jacquier" to honor him.[27]

Awards

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Jacquier and his colleague,Bertrand Coq,jointly won the 2003audiovisualAlbert Londres Prizefor their work on the France 2documentary,Naplouse,on theSecond Intifadain thePalestinian Territories.[2][28]

In 2007, Jacquier won the TV Journalism Ilari Alpi 2007 for "Ukraine, the last frontier", a reportage from Envoyé Spécial.[29]In 2009, he also won the Jean-Louis Calderon price (in the category "video" ) about his reportage about Afghanistan, broadcast in Envoyé Spécial.[30]

In June 2011, Jacquier received an award in Italy for best international reporting Ilaria Alpi "Tunisia, the revolution in progress".[29]

In May 2012, Jacquier received the award International Journalism and Human Rights given by the Barcelona Human Rights Film Festival. His widow, Caroline Poiron came to receive the award given in hand by Javier Couso, brother of the camara Jose Couso killed in Iraq in 2004 while he was reporting the war.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^"Gilles Jacquier, un baroudeur qui avait" horreur de la guerre "".TF1 News(in French). 13 January 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 22 March 2012.Retrieved22 March2012.
  2. ^abcdefghiChrisafis, Angelique (11 January 2012)."French TV journalist killed in Homs".The Guardian.London.Retrieved5 February2012.
  3. ^"Award-winning French Journalist Gilles Jacquier Killed in Syria".International Business Times.11 January 2012.Retrieved25 March2012.
  4. ^"Syrie: le journaliste Gilles Jacquier, de France 2, tué à Homs".Le Parisien(in French). 11 January 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 20 April 2012.Retrieved26 March2012.
  5. ^abcMarc Sadouni (11 January 2012)."Décès de Gilles Jacquier, lauréat du Prix Bayeux".FR3(in French).Retrieved23 March2012.
  6. ^abBeaumont, Peter (9 April 2002)."Sharon vows to press on as 13 Israeli soldiers are killed".The Guardian.London.Retrieved5 February2012.
  7. ^"Gilles Jacquier, une mort qui éveille les plus vifs soupçons".Le Monde(in French). 23 January 2012.Retrieved23 March2012.
  8. ^ab"Gilles Jacquier: l'adieu au grand reporter".Paris Match(in French). 19 January 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 26 February 2012.Retrieved25 March2012.
  9. ^"Gilles Jacquier, un journaliste courageux au plus près des gens".France Télévisions.11 January 2012.Retrieved5 February2012.
  10. ^abcMackey, Robert (11 January 2012)."French Journalist Killed in Syria as Observer Mission Frays".New York Times.Retrieved5 February2012.
  11. ^Bell, Melissa (11 January 2012)."Gilles Jacquier, French journalist, killed in Syria".Washington Post.Retrieved5 February2012.
  12. ^""The regime killed my husband"".Archived fromthe originalon 2013-12-19.Retrieved2013-06-13.
  13. ^"Les zones d'ombre autour de la mort de Gilles Jacquier".LExpress.fr(in French). 2012-01-13.Retrieved2019-06-17.
  14. ^"Gilles Jacquier, une mort qui éveille les plus vifs soupçons"(in French). 2012-01-23.Retrieved2019-06-17.
  15. ^Dwyer, Johnny; Gallagher, Ryan (2018-04-09)."Target: Journalist: How the Assad Regime Tracked and Killed Marie Colvin for Reporting on War Crimes in Syria".The Intercept.Retrieved2019-06-17.
  16. ^JDD, Le (10 April 2018)."Révélations sur l'implication de la Syrie dans le meurtre de journalistes étrangers, dont deux Français".lejdd.fr(in French).Retrieved2019-06-21.
  17. ^"VIDEO. Le journaliste de France 2 Gilles Jacquier tué en Syrie".Le nouvel Observateur(in French). 11 January 2012.Retrieved25 March2012.
  18. ^"Colleagues blame Syria for death of French TV reporter Gilles Jacquier".Washington Post.Associated Press.22 January 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 31 May 2019.Retrieved5 February2012.
  19. ^"Syrie: qui a tué Gilles Jacquier?"(in French). 2012-02-16.Retrieved2019-06-21.
  20. ^Malbrunot, Georges (20 January 2012)."Jacquier aurait été victime d'une bavure des insurgés".Le Figaro.Retrieved6 February2012.
  21. ^League of Arab States Observer Mission to Syria: Report of the Head of the League of Arab States Observer Mission to Syria for the period from 24 December 2011 to 18 January 2012.Point 44, page 6.
  22. ^Poiron, Caroline; Hammouche, Sid Ahmed; Vallélian, Patrick (2013-05-24).Attentat Express(in French). Le Seuil.ISBN9782021113785.
  23. ^Black, Ian (13 January 2012)."France opens murder inquiry into journalist's death in Syria".The Guardian.London.Retrieved5 February2012.
  24. ^"Jacquier: l'enquête française pointe les rebelles syriens".Le Figaro(in French). 17 July 2012.Retrieved18 July2012.
  25. ^"Wife-of-killed-journalist-says-Syrian-regime-plotted-killing".Al Arabiya.June 6, 2013.Retrieved2013-06-13.
  26. ^"The regime killed my husband".NOW. June 12, 2013. Archived fromthe originalon 2013-12-19.Retrieved2013-06-13.
  27. ^"Franceinfo - Actualités en temps réel et info en direct".francetvinfo(in French).Retrieved25 March2012.
  28. ^"Accueil".Prix Bayeux(in French).Retrieved25 March2012.
  29. ^ab"L'hommage du JT 20h le 11 janvier 2012".Envoyé Spécial(in French). Archived fromthe originalon 15 January 2012.Retrieved25 March2012.
  30. ^"Award-winning French Journalist Gilles Jacquier Killed in Syria".International Business Times.11 January 2012.Retrieved25 March2012.
  31. ^"¡Todo lo bueno se acaba! « TAQUILLA SIETE".Archived fromthe originalon 17 February 2013.
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