Frederic Leclerc -Imhoff, journalist who was killed in an attack on eastern Ukraine on Monday, May 30, by shrapnel, was announced Sunday night on BFMTV during a tribute program. He will be returned to France on Wednesday.
“Frederic returns home on Wednesday. On Friday, a tribute to him will be paid at Place de la Republique, Paris at 6:30 p.m., said the channel. This was announced by the channel during the program that received his colleagues from the mission, Maxime Brandstaetter, journalist, and Oksana Luteta, Ukrainian fixer. They arrived in France Friday evening, and they were there with Frederic Leclerc Imhoff on Monday.
Friday will see Frederic Leclerc -Imhoff’s passing at Paris Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in particular. The family, friends, and colleagues of Frederic Leclerc-Imhoff will all be there. RSF tweeted, “Let’s pay homage to his memory, Place de la Republique, Paris, Friday, June 10, at 6:30 pm.”
Catherine Colonna (head of French diplomacy) tweeted that the reporter was “killed in a Russian bombardment”. French National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor’s Office, Pnat, announced Monday that a war crimes investigation was being opened after the journalist’s death.
Frederic Leclerc -Imhoff, 32, had been working for BFMTV, a continuous news channel, for six years. He was now on his second mission in Ukraine as a journalistic image reporter (JRI).
“Frederic wasn’t a hothead. Marc-Olivier Fogiel (general manager of BFMTV), said that Frederic weighed every minute of the mission. This was just after Monday’s announcement of his death. Frederic Leclerc–Imhoff is a tall, slim brunette with soft features. He had studied philosophy in Paris and was trained in journalism at Bordeaux Aquitaine Journalism Institute.
The Ijba posted a tribute on its website, highlighting “his kindness and his benevolence”, his humility, his sense to listen, his gentleness, and his open-mindedness.” The Ijba recalls that even though he was “discreet” in nature, he “defended his commitments as a citizen and man with fervor, humor”, and “his kindness, his benevolence, his humility, and his sense of listening, his gentleness, and his open-mindedness”.
