Muslim 'supermarket hero' awarded French nationality

Over 200,000 signed a petition for Lassana Bathily to get French citizenship


Afp/web Desk January 15, 2015
PHOTO: TWITTER

Hailed as “the Paris kosher supermarket hero,”  Lassana Bathily was awarded French nationality after more than 200,000 people  signed a petition calling for him to be given French citizenship and the country’s highest honour.

Bathily, who has lived in France since 2006, had applied in July last year for French nationality, and Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, praising his "bravery", said in a statement he would be given it at a ceremony on Tuesday.

Twenty-four-old Bathily, a Muslim shop assistant originally from Mali risked his own life to lead people to safety during the Paris attacks.

The Change.org petition calls on President Francois Hollande to grant Bathily French nationality and the Legion d'honneur for saving 15 lives during the siege last week.

Three days of terror gripped France as armed gunmen stormed satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a day later a gunman, Amedy Coulibaly, took people hostage at a kosher grocery store.

Bathily, a Muslim man originally from Mali in west Africa, reportedly led terrified customers to safety in a switched-off storeroom freezer. He later escaped through a fire escape to talk to police.

According to The Guardian, after he escaped the supermarket, Bathily told French TV, "When they ran down, I opened the door (from the freezer).

"There are several people who came to me. I turned off the light, I turned off the freezer. When I turned off the cold, I put them (hostages) in, I closed the door, I told them to stay calm."

Police originally thought Bathily was a conspirator when he managed to escape through a goods lift. “They told me, ‘get down on the ground, hands over your head’. They cuffed me and held me for an hour and a half as if I was with them,” he added. Once freed he was able to give them details of the layout of the store and where people were hiding.

As of Thursday afternoon the petition was signed by more than 278,863 people and 21,137 more signatures were needed.

COMMENTS (5)

Meheryar Sheikh | 9 years ago | Reply

Mohammad Ali Siddiqui: 'If Muslims are not provoked, they will never kill any one.'

You make them sound like wild animals.

woody | 9 years ago | Reply

Nice to see a "good guy" get rewarded.

VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ