Security tight as France holds funeral of teacher slain by former student
The funeral of murdered French teacher Dominique Bernard was held on Thursday under heightened security in the northern town of Arras. President Emmanuel Macron attended the emotional ceremony paying tribute to Bernard, who was stabbed to death six days ago by a radicalised former student.
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The funeral mass took place at the cathedral in Arras, where Bernard lived and taught French at the Gambetta-Carnot high school, where he was stabbed to death on 13 October.
The 1,000 seat cathedral was full of Bernard's family and friends, as well as public officials and teachers at the school.
"We are here with the entire nation also touched at its heart," said Arras bishop Olivier Leborgne at the start of the mass, acknowledging the presence of Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron, who met with the family before the ceremony.
Also in attendance was Education Minister Gabriel Attal.
Bernard was awarded the legion of honour in a decree published earlier Thursday.
Savage murder
"A teacher, your colleague, was savagely murdered inside a school, and with him other victims that are here among you and whom I salute," Leborgne said, addressing the dozens of friends and colleagues from the Gambetta-Carnot school where Bernard taught and the attack took place.
"When will the violence and the insanity of the world end?" he asked. "Hatred that responds to hatred is nothing more than more hatred and violence."
Security was high around the city, as France is on high alert following the murder, and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, after Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October.
Classes at the Gambetta-Carnot school were suspended Thursday morning, so that staff and students could attend.
The general public was not allowed in, but at the request of Bernard’s family, the ceremony was being broadcast live on large screens in the plaza outside, at the base of the bell tower.
'We loved him'
At the beginning of the ceremony, Bernard's family and friends spoke and read texts.
"He did not like computers and social media. He did not even have a phone. He did not like crowds or horror movies," Bernard's wife, Isabelle, said, listing the authors and artists that he admired.
"Sensitive and discrete, he did not like noise and the furor of the world. He loved his daughters, his mother, his sister deeply. We loved him."
"It was hard not to get close to you, to listen to you," eulogised a colleague at the school, remarking on his commitment to his students and regretting that he has now been "elevated to the ranks of martyrs".
After the mass, Bernard was to be buried in a private ceremony at the local cemetery in Berneville.
Islamic State
The attacker, Mohammed Mogouchkov, is a former student who was under surveillance by France's DGSI intelligence agency.
Prosecutors say the 20-year-old, who claimed to be part of the Islamic State armed group, has been indicted for murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, and has been in jail since Tuesday.
His younger brother has been charged with complicity and a teenaged cousin has been charged with voluntary failure to prevent a crime.
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