Jacques Tillier is a

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

and the managing editor of ', ', ' and '. He was seriously injured in 1979 by

Jacques Mesrine Jacques Mesrine (; 28 December 1936 – 2 November 1979) was a French criminal responsible for numerous murders, bank robberies, burglaries, and kidnappings in France, the US, and Canada. Mesrine repeatedly escaped from prison and made in ...

while working for the ''

Minute The minute is a unit of time usually equal to (the first sexagesimal fraction) of an hour, or 60 seconds. In the UTC time standard, a minute on rare occasions has 61 seconds, a consequence of leap seconds (there is a provision to insert a nega ...

''. He was also director of the ''

Journal de l'île de La Réunion ''Journal de l'île de La Réunion'' is a daily, French-language newspaper published in Réunion, a French overseas department. The newspaper, which was founded in 1951 is headquartered in Saint-Denis, Réunion Saint-Denis (, , unofficia ...

'' before becoming the CEO of ''L'Union''.

Biography

After several years as a policeman in the Directorate of Territorial Security (DST),http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8jajo_jacques-tillier-parle-de-jacques-me_na (French) Tillier pursued a career as a journalist, first writing for ''Minute'', a right-wing weekly journal. Using his past police connections and his friendship with Commissioner Lucien Aimé-Blanc, head of the (OCRB), he began to write articles that contradicted the "honourable gangster" image conveyed by Jacques Mesrine, who in France was public enemy number one. In spite of Mesrine's threats, Tillier continued to publish articles refuting the criminal's image as a modern day Robin Hood. Tillier gained an exclusive interview with Mesrine on 10 September 1979, but Mesrine and his accomplice, , drove Tillier to a candlelit cave in the Forest of Halatte, where they forced him to strip naked before handcuffing him. Mesrine beat, tortured and humiliated Tillier, claiming that he was a

fascist Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...

and police informant. He then shot Tillier three times with a revolver, first in the face, "to stop him talking crap", then in the arm "to stop him writing crap" and finally in the leg "for the pleasure of it". He took pictures as Tillier lay naked and bloodied, and left him for dead. Tillier survived the ordeal, although he lost the use of one arm. After two weeks in hospital he returned to ''Minute'', but eventually decided to leave the weekly. He became advisor to

Paul Biya Paul Biya (born Paul Barthélemy Biya'a bi Mvondo; 13 February 1933) is a Cameroonian politician who has served as the president of Cameroon since 6 November 1982.

, President of the

Republic of Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, and

Lansana Conte Lansana is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Surname: * Alpha Lansana (born 1980), Sierra Leonean international footballer *David Lansana (1922–1975), appointed army commander of Sierra Leone in 1964 *Komeh Gulama Lansana, the w ...

Guinea Guinea ( ),, fuf, 𞤘𞤭𞤲𞤫, italic=no, Gine, wo, Gine, nqo, ߖߌ߬ߣߍ߫, bm, Gine officially the Republic of Guinea (french: République de Guinée), is a coastal country in West Africa. It borders the Atlantic Ocean to the we ...

. Tillier then returned to journalism and worked on the ''

'' (JIR), where in the early 1990s he was appointed editor. JIR was bought by ''

France-Antilles ''France-Antilles'' is a daily, French-language newspaper published in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The newspaper is owned by Groupe Hersant Média. ''France-Antilles''. It also publishes a sister publication in French Guiana, ''France-Guyane ''Fra ...

'', a subsidiary of the . Tillier subsequently became its director and CEO. In his editorial published on 9 February 2008, entitled "", he announced his departure from the JIR. He became the CEO of the daily ' in 2008.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tillier, Jacques 20th-century French journalists 21st-century French journalists French chief executives French editors French male journalists French police officers French torture victims Kidnapped French people Living people Missing person cases in France Year of birth missing (living people)

Biography

See also

References