Françoise Rudetzki, "national figure of aid to victims of attacks", is dead
Françoise Rudetzki, founding president of the association SOS Attentats then SOS Catastrophes et Terrorisme.
AFP/Lionel Bonaventure
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
An “exceptional woman” who worked tirelessly in the service of victims of terrorism after being herself seriously injured during an attack in 1983, Françoise Rudetzki died on the night of May 17 to 18 in Paris, at age 73.
The political class and civil society pay him vibrant tributes.
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His death marked the trial of the attacks of November 13, 2015, which is currently taking place in Paris.
“
We measure the loss that this will represent for the victims
”, underlined the lawyer Frédéric Bibal, announcing his death at the resumption of the hearing.
Françoise Rudetzki had "
accompanied many victims during trials of terrorist attacks
", recalled Me Bibal, who represents dozens of civil parties.
Me Frédéric Bibal pays tribute to Françoise Rudetzki
Me Frédéric Bibal pays tribute to Françoise Rudetzki
Nathanael Vittrant
The Life for Paris association, which brings together many victims of these attacks, hailed in a press release the "
unique greatness of soul
" of this "
exceptional woman
", who "
has made it possible to make France an example support for victims
" and provided "
fundamental assistance
" to the association in its early days.
"
Until the end, she campaigned for the recognition and care of victims of attacks
," said her daughter Deborah Rudetzki, contacted by AFP.
"
His voice will not be extinguished
", reacted on Twitter the Keeper of the Seals Éric Dupond-Moretti, expressing his "
sadness
" at the disappearance of a woman who "
has made her injuries her greatest fight by devoting her lives of the victims of terrorism
”.
In a press release, the Elysee said it was saddened by the “
departure of this prodigious example of resilience and pugnacity
”.
Victims Guarantee Fund
Lawyer, Françoise Rudetzki had created SOS Attentats, the first association for the defense of victims of acts of terrorism, in December 1985, a date which marked the beginning of a wave of deadly attacks linked to the Middle East conflict in Paris.
And as early as 1986, it had obtained the creation of the Guarantee Fund for victims of acts of terrorism, financed by a small levy on each property insurance contract, a guarantee extended in 1990 to all victims of criminal offenses (rapes, assaults, robberies).
She had also succeeded in having victims of terrorism recognized as civilian victims of war and the possibility for associations to file civil suits during trials.
In 2018, she also defended the creation of a National Resource and Resilience Center (CN2R), intended to improve the care of victims of traumatic events.
On December 23, 1983, Françoise Rudetzki was the victim of a bomb attack at the Grand Véfour restaurant, under the arcades of the Palais-Royal, in Paris, where she was celebrating ten years of marriage with her husband.
The explosion had thrown a metal door which had crushed the legs of the young businesswoman.
Operated on dozens of times to treat her injuries, she had contracted HIV and the hepatitis C virus during a transfusion.
Thereafter, the legal chroniclers will have crossed her countless times at the hearings and in the corridors of the Paris courthouse, where she moved around using crutches.
"
Françoise Rudetzki has always wanted to fight for the dignity, for the recognition of the rights
" of the victims and "
she never lets go
", declared President François Hollande, who decorated him with the National Order of Merit.
His funeral will take place in the strictest family privacy, said his relatives.
(And with
AFP
)
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