I will not let you have the gift of my hatred...
Defiant husband’s open letter to the terrorists who murdered his wife
A HUSBAND who lost his wife in the Bataclan theatre attack has published an open letter to her killers vowing not to dignify them with his hatred.
Antoine Leiris directly addressed the terror gang who murdered his wife Helene Muyal-Leiris, 35, along with 88 others during an Eagles of Death Metal concert last Friday.
In the post, published openly on Facebook, he told how the gunmen had stolen the life of an ‘exceptional person’ – but that he would not give them the satisfaction of knowing he was angry.
Mr Leiris, understood to be a radio journalist, also described how his 17-month-old son, Melvil, had been robbed of a mother.
But he told the terrorists his son would not hate them either, adding: ‘Throughout his life he will insult you by being happy and free.’
Addressing the gang, now known to consist of Omar Mostefai, 29, and Samy Amimour, 28, Mr Leiris wrote: ‘I don’t know who you are and I don’t want to know, you are dead souls.
‘If this God for whom you are killing blindly made us out of his image, every bullet in my wife’s body would have been a wound to his heart.’
The widower said he would not give the Islamic State-inspired fanatics the ‘gift’ of hatred despite the fact they had ‘come looking for it’. He wrote: ‘Friday night, you took an exceptional life – the love of my life, the mother of my son – but you will not have my hatred
‘I will not grant you the gift of my hatred. You’re asking for it, but responding to hatred with anger is falling victim to the same ignorance that has made you what you are.
‘You want me to be scared, to view my countrymen with mistrust, to sacrifice my liberty for my security. You lost.’
Of the moment he saw his wife’s lifeless body, he wrote: ‘I saw her this morning. Finally, after nights and days of waiting. She was just as beautiful as when she left on Friday night, just as beautiful as when I fell hopelessly in love over 12 years ago.
‘Of course I am devastated by this pain, I give you this little victory, but the pain will be short-lived. I know that she will be with us every day and that we will find ourselves again in this paradise of free love to which you have no access.’
Mr Leiris described how he and his family are determined to carry on as normal in the face of tragedy. He wrote: ‘We are just two, my son and me, but we are stronger than all the armies in the world.’
He ended the letter: ‘I don’t have any more time to devote to you, I have to join Melvil who is waking up from his nap. He is barely 17 months old. He will eat his meals as usual, and then we are going to play as usual, and for his whole life this little boy will threaten you by being happy and free. Because no, you will not have his hatred either.’
The letter has been shared more than 100,000 times on Facebook, while dozens of tributes have been left by friends of the family. One wrote: ‘I have no words. My whole heart goes out to you.’
Mrs Muyal-Leiris was first reported missing through an online social media campaign to find those who had been inside the Bataclan. On Saturday night, one of her relatives posted on Twitter confirming her death.