Charlie Hebdo Paris attacks: Week of commemorations conclude - Action News
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Charlie Hebdo Paris attacks: Week of commemorations conclude

France's President Franois Holland presided over events today at Place de la Rpublique, to mark the first anniversary of the deadly assaults in Paris at the offices of a satirical magazine and a kosher supermarket.
A man holds a sign that reads 'Duty to Remember' at the statue in Place de la Rpublique in Paris during Sunday's memorial ceremonies. (Tracy Seeley/CBC)

France's President Franois Holland presided over events today at Place de la Rpublique, to mark the first anniversary of the deadly assaults in Paris at the offices of a satirical magazine and a kosher supermarket.

An oak tree, dubbed the Tree of Memory, was planted in the square at what has become the unofficial place for public mourning for victims of the city's terror attacks, closing out a week of commemorations in France.

Adrien Rapicault, a 24-year-old Parisian, attended the memorial at Place de la Rpublique and said the crowd appeared small when he arrived, perhaps a few thousand. That's in sharp contrast to last year's mass rally in the capital on the same date, when an estimated 1.6 million people gathered in a show of unity after attacks on the Charlie Hebdo offices and a Jewish supermarket.

French President Franois Hollande, left, speaks with French singer Johnny Hallyday at the end of Sunday's memorial. In the background, Prime Minister Manuel Valls greets Hallyday's wife Laeticia. (Philippe Wojazer/Reuters)

French singer Johnny Hallyday performed a song written specifically in honour of victims, One Sunday in January, referencing last year's impressive march, when Parisians stood arm in arm to denounceIslamist extremism.

Rapicault says since the more recent Nov. 13 attacks, "something has changed in France, theway we look at the world."

"We were attacked because of our values," adding that people were very suspicious of each other in Paris after the November attacks, but that has eased somewhat.

"It was a moving ceremony this morning. It very much about Paris still standing. The motto of the city tossed upon stormy seas, but not sunk very much in evidence, and that's the message that people here say they still want to give," said CBC's Margaret Evans, reporting from Paris.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, centre, joined Deputy Mayor Bruno Julliard, left, for the candlelight vigil that concluded memorial events to honour victims of the attacks at the Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket last January. (CBC)

In the evening, a crowd, including civic leaders, gathered before the statue in Place de la Rpublique for a candlelight vigil.

Memorials held in the past week showthat Parisians are strong and determined to go on with their lives, Mayor Anne Hidalgo told reporters at the scene.

On Saturday, PresidentHollande attended a ceremony on the outskirts of Paris, held in honour of police officer Clarissa Jean-Philippe.

She was was shot dead the day after two gunmen brothers entered the second-floor offices of Charlie Hebdo on Jan. 7 and killed 11 people.

Police say the assailant who killed the officer in the Paris suburb of Montrouge knew the brothers.

On Jan. 8, the officer's attacker then raided a kosher supermarket in the city's easternmost neighbourhood, where he killed four hostages before being shot himself.