In France, a stele was opened in memory of journalists who died while performing their professional duties
In the French city of Bayeux, the stele of the Bayeux 2025 Reporters Memorial was unveiled, on which the names of 73 journalists who died in the line of duty over the past year are engraved. This was reported by the organization “Reporters without Borders” (RSF).
The Bayeux Reporters Memorial was established in 2006 in collaboration with RSF to commemorate journalists and reporters who have died in armed conflicts or have been killed in the course of their work. Every year, the stele is supplemented with new names. This time, 73 names of journalists who died between June 1, 2024 and June 1, 2025 were engraved.
General Director of “Reporters Without Borders” Thibaut Brutten noted that these journalists “were killed for informing us about the conspiracy between the authorities and organized crime in Mexico, about the monarchist riots in Nepal, about the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine and about the crimes committed by the Israeli army against the Palestinian population.” He also emphasized that the Baye Memorial reminds us that “freedom of the press is not a given and not an asset, but a conquest”.
Among the immortalized names is Viktoria Roshchyna, who was in Russian captivity since 2023 and died under torture in 2024. Her body was returned to Ukraine in February 2025 with signs of violent death, and a farewell was held in Kyiv on August 8. The name of Kazakh opposition journalist Aidos Sadikov, who died after an assassination attempt in the center of Kyiv in June 2024, is also engraved on the ceiling.
The opening ceremony took place in the presence of the families and colleagues of the fallen as part of the 32nd Baie Calvados – Normandy Award, which is presented annually to war correspondents. A special tribute was paid to Palestinian journalists who died as a result of the fighting in Gaza. On the marble ceiling are engraved the words: “In memory of an unprecedented tragedy. To all journalists killed in Gaza”.
