October 17th massacres commemorative painting in bad state

The Association of the Algerian Community Living Abroad criticized French authorities for not giving an importance to the October 17th, 1961 tragic events. A commemorative painting at Saint Michel Bridge was replaced by another one which is unclear and does not represent the event.

The association sent a letter to French President François Hollande, complaining about the painting bad state.

It believes that a statute should be built to commemorate the historic events and the October 1961 protests.

Its chairman says France tries to erase the memory about the tragic events and hide its dark page. The painting was put in a place visited by millions of tourists everyday.

“The Algerian community is very angry and wants to rehabilitate the painting and replace it by an appropriate statute,” said the letter.

It added that Hollande is the first French president who admitted the seriousness of the 1961 bloody events.

“The painting is in a bad state and does not express good relations between France and Algeria. It was put in a low place,” said the association.

It called on Hollande to make a daring decision to rehabilitate the protests victims by building a commemorative statute, according to the association.