"The thief who at night hides along the walls on his way home, it’s him. The father who recommends to his children not to tell anyone the nasty job he does, it’s him.
The bad citizen who hangs around the courtroom, waiting to be interrogated by the judge, it’s him.
The individual caught in a police raid, hit with a gun-butt and propelled (thrown) to the back of a lorry, it’s him. It’s him who leaves his house in the morning without knowing if he’ll get to his work, and who leaves his work in the evening without knowing if he’ll get home.
The tramp who doesn’t know anymore where to spend the night, it’s him. It’s him who is threatened in secret in the office of an official - a witness who must keep inside what he knows, a citizen naked and helpless.
The man who vows not to die slaughtered—with his throat cut, it’s him. It’s him who can do nothing with his hands, nothing else other than his little writings. Him who hopes in spite of everything because, after all, roses can grow on a pile of manure.
Him who is all this, and only a journalist.”
This article was written by Said Mekbel, journalist and director of the French-language daily Le Matin. It was published on the day of his assassination on 3 December 1994.