A national tribute ceremony chaired by Prime Minister Jean Castex began Friday in Rambouillet (Yvelines) in memory of Stéphanie Monfeture, the police officer murdered a week earlier in the city police station.
A large black and white portrait of Stéphanie Monfeture was solemnly carried by the police at the start of the ceremony.
Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal and five ministers attended the ceremony: Gérald Darmanin (Interior), Eric Dupond-Moretti (Justice), Amélie de Montchalin (Civil service), Marlène Schiappa (Citizenship) and Nadia Hai (City).
President Emmanuel Macron was present Thursday at the funeral – private – of this official of the Ministry of the Interior, who had served at the Rambouillet police station for 28 years, without a weapon or uniform.
The ceremony takes place on an esplanade near the police station where the assailant appeared and killed her with two stab wounds, in the entrance hall of the police station.
A hundred personalities and elected officials gathered nearby, among them were Valérie Pécresse (Libres! Ex LR), Marine Le Pen (RN), Olivier Faure (PS), Laurent de Saint-Martin, Aurore Bergé (LREM) ) or Clémentine Autain (LFI).
Victim of “the 17th Islamist terrorist action committed in France since 2014 against the police” according to the anti-terrorism prosecution, Stéphanie was one of the 12,500 administrative officers of the national police.
During a first tribute paid Monday, the mayor of Rambouillet Véronique Matillon had greeted an “exceptional woman”, mother of two daughters, having “devoted her life” to “others”.
This assassination took place in the Yvelines department, already marked by the beheading of teacher Samuel Paty six months ago and the assassination of a couple of police officers in 2016.
The perpetrator of the Rambouillet attack, Jamel Gorchene, a 36-year-old Tunisian national, was killed on the spot by gunfire from a police officer.
This driver – delivery man domiciled in Rambouillet had no criminal record and was unknown to the intelligence and justice services. But its modus operandi corresponds to recurring calls from the Islamic State (IS) group to attack the police.
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