French Hostages Sue Broadcasters Over Siege Coverage
PARIS, April 3 (UPI) — Six people who hid during the January siege of a Paris market filed lawsuits against a broadcasting outlet which pinpointed their location.
The plaintiffs were involved in an attack on the Hyper Casher kosher market Jan. 9 during three days of terrorist activity that began Jan. 7 with the deaths of 12 people at the office of Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical magazine. As hostages at the market, they hid in a walk-in refrigerator, called a “cold room” in Europe, as gunman Amedy Coulibaly killed four people before he was shot to death by Paris police.
The lawsuit claims broadcasting media endangered those still alive in the market, including a child, 3, and a one month-old baby among the six in the cold room. It identifies the French 24-hour news channel BFMTV for its live coverage of the incident.
Police began an investigation of the claims Wednesday.
Patrick Klugman, a layer for the plaintiffs, told the magazine Paris Match, “”The disclosure of the presence of people hiding, during a hostage situation, is an error which cannot go unpunished.” He did not reveal the amount of damages sought by his clients.
