Six people are to sue French media companies who put them in danger for revealing details of their whereabouts during the siege at a Jewish Supermarket in January. BFMTV, a rolling news channel in France, has been singled out by lawyer Patrick Klugman.
Amedy Coulibaly took a number of people hostage, when he attacked the Hyper Cacher Jewish Supermarket in Paris, back on 9th January. Several shoppers managed to lock themselves in the walk-in fridge in the basement of the store, where they remained for several hours.
During the siege, French news channel BFMTV revealed that a number of people had locked themselves in the refrigerator, including a baby.
A lawyer representing the 6 complainants said that revealing this information, while the hostage situation was still active, put them in danger.
Lawyer Patrick Klugman said if Coulibaly had heard that information there could have been "serious consequences" for the six in hiding. Le Parisien newspaper says that complaint was sent on Friday 27th March. The managing editor of BFMTV has said that revealing the information on-air was a "mistake."
Amedy Coulibaly entered the Jewish supermarket in Paris on 9th January, just days after the terror attack at the Charlie Hebdo magazine office. Coulibaly had pledged allegiance with Islamic State. He had threatened to kill all hostages of the Police stormed a warehouse where the two brothers who committed the Charlie Hebdo attack had been holed up.
French police carried out a simultaneous raid at both locations, leading to Coulibaly being shot dead. Four people died in the attack and several more were injured. During the hostage crisis, Coulibaly had spoken with BFMTV, which was not broadcast live, in which he spoke about why he was carrying out the attack.
Lassana Bathily, a grocery worker in the store who led a number of shoppers to safety, was awarded French citizenship.
The 24-year-old Malian worker was made a French citizen by Prime Minister Manuel Valls and the French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve just two weeks after the attack. Speaking at the ceremony, Bathily said: "Long live freedom, long live solidarity, long live France."
