Toulouse: Hunger strike: The photographer of the murder of Pierre Overney in 1972
Christophe Schimmel, the Toulouse photographer who had photographed the murder of Pierre Overney, in 1972, during the social conflicts at Renault Billancourt, hopes to recover his pictures thanks to new advances. He will not start a hunger and hunger strike this Wednesday.
Christophe Schimmel, 68, admits “a certain slowdown”. This militant photographer had immortalized, for History, the murder of Pierre Overney, in February 1972, in the Renault Billancourt factory. His photos had been seized by the courts and used during the trial of the killer, Jean-Antoine Tramoni, before the Assize Court in 1973. Since the author of the photos, authorized, in theory, to recover them after 20 years , i.e. in 2002, hit a wall (our Sunday edition).
He wrote to the Keeper of the Seals, Eric Dupont-Moretti, “with acknowledgment of receipt”. But, at the end of last week, he had still not obtained an answer. “I want to know if I can get my negatives back or at least know what happened to them. After twenty years of fighting, without response, I will start a hunger and hunger strike on Wednesday April 6, he explained. I am not suicidal. For me this decision is not easy. This lonely fight must have a way out. Justice must answer me and it must return my photos to me.
“A dialogue in Paris”
But, on the eve of starting this hunger strike, Christophe Schimmel received “good news” which “gives him hope. “Since this morning (Editor’s note, Tuesday morning) a dialogue has been set up in Paris to recover the negatives of the assassination of Pierre Overney. Having always favored negotiations, I seized this opportunity and therefore postponed my thirst strike”. He specifies: “The Ministry of Justice has still not responded to my request. It is therefore by circumventing this administration that discussions can finally begin. I’m not giving up, my fight continues”.