Partner of slain Charlie Hebdo editor blames attack on lacking security

The partner of slain Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier has blamed the massacre on inadequate security.

“Do you know people are capable of dying for their ideas today? No. Because they’ve just died, they’ve just been murdered. That’s the reality, we could have avoided this massacre. We could have avoided it and we didn’t,” Jeanette Bougrab told French television station TF1.

On Wednesday, 12 people were killed in an attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris, known for its cartoons that took on politicians and religious icons, including Islam’s Prophet Mohammad.

“I’ve lost a loved one. I am here, not as a former government minister, but as a woman who has lost her man who has been murdered by barbarians,” she said.

Bougrab served as the French Secretary for Youth and Community Life from 14 November 2010 to 10 May 2012 and is a member of the UMP party.

“I admired him before I fell in love with him and I loved him because of the way he was, because he was brave, he thought that life was a small thing when he was defending his ideals,” Bougrab said.