Charlie Hebdo publishing director and satirical cartoonist Stephane Charbonnier, popularly known as Charb, who was killed in the attack

French lawyer and politician Jeannette Bougrab quickly became the face of Parisian mourning after the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo were attacked by Islamic extremists last week.

Through tears, the girlfriend of its late editor Stéphane ‘Charb’ Charbonnier, gave a series of interviews to TV reporters at the scene of the shooting that claimed the lives of 10 journalists and two police officers.

“My companion is dead because he drew in a newspaper,” she said.

“He never had children because he knew he was going to die. He lived without fear but he knew he would die.”

However, she has since declared that she will not be attending the funeral of her lover, after his family denied the two were ever in a committed relationship and ordered her to stay away from the ceremony.

Laurent Charbonnier, Charb’s brother, issued the following statement on behalf of the family on Saturday: “We formally deny any rational commitment from Charb with Jeannette Bougrab. We do not want her to express herself in the manner in which she has done.

“We ask for respect for our family’s mourning.”







Read more at the Belfast Telegraph