The story of Lassana Bathily, an African Immigrant of Muslim background who risked his own life to save Jews from possible death, has provided France with a heroic figure after a horrific spell of violence that began with the Jan. 7 attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo.
Bathily was working at a Hyper Cacher store on Jan. 9 when it was attacked by Islamist gunman Amedy Coulibaly, the radicalized son of Malian immigrants. Four hostages were killed before police shot Coulibaly dead.
“Tonight I’m very proud and deeply touched,” Bathily said with tears in his eyes, humbly stressing that he doesn’t consider himself a hero. “I am Lassana. I’ll stay true to myself.” “People are all equal to me and skin color isn’t a matter. France is the country of human rights,” he added.
Bathily was in the store’s underground stockroom when gunman Amedy Coulibaly burst in upstairs on January 9 and killed four people. He turned off the stockroom’s freezer and hid a group of shoppers inside before sneaking out through a fire escape to speak to police and help them with their operation to free the 15 hostages and kill the attacker.
He has been living in France for about nine years and filed his citizenship papers last summer. He was fast-tracked for citizenship, sparing him from the notoriously arduous process of becoming a naturalized Frenchman.
The Agence France-Presse AFP repoted that over 220,000 people signed an online petition calling for Bathily’s naturalization. Bathily, a practicing Muslim, has downplayed his actions.
“We’re brothers. It’s not a question of Jews, Christians or Muslims,” he told French news channel BFMTV. “We’re all in the same boat, and we have to help one another to get out of this crisis.”
Bathily, dressed in a black suit and white shirt, walked into Tuesday’s ceremony flanked by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve. He stood with his head bowed and his hands clasped as Cazeneuve praised his actions as “the highest gesture of Islam and peace” and welcomed him as “the newest citizen at the heart of this country.”
Bathily was given a letter from French President François Hollande, a medal and a book on citizenship. Then he stepped slowly to the podium. “People tell me I am a hero. I am not a hero. I am trying to stay myself,” he said, visibly moved. He expressed his desire to see and help his family back home. He received a standing ovation when he finished with: “I am very happy. Long live liberty! Long live friendship! Long live solidarity! Long live France!”
Accounts given to French media and to a friend who spoke to The Associated Press, Bathily was in the store’s basement when the attacker burst in upstairs. Bathily then hid a group of frightened shoppers, including a 2-year-old-child, inside the freezer before escaping to communicate with police. Security officials initially thought he was the attacker, and he was forced to the ground and handcuffed.
Once police realized their mistake, he provided them with the key they needed to open the supermarket’s metal blinds and mount their assault. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later praised Bathily and said he “helped save seven Jews.”
The Jewish owner of Hyper Cacher, Michel Emsalem, attended Tuesday’s ceremony, and called Bathily a hero. “He represents a big message for many people, especially for us,” Emsalem said.
Pierre Henry, the president of the French government’s refugee assistance agency, described Bathily as “a righteous one among the righteous’ who should serve as a role model to our youth.” He added: “Lassana Bathily enriches us by joining the French nation.”
Soumare Dzebril, a friend of Bathily’s from the African Soccer Club who attended Tuesday’s ceremony said: “He is a hero to me but he is someone very humble.” He added: “We are all very proud of him.”
