1,100 Scots gather in solidarity with France

People gather outside the French Institute on Randolph Crescent. Picture: Greg Macvean

For David Stoper from Nimes, currently studying business management at Paisley West of Scotland University, those who had gathered under windblown umbrellas on the steps of the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow were true “friends of France”. Shouting into a megaphone, over a howling gale, he declared: “We will triumph over murderous madness with our brains and our hearts.”

Among the estimated 500 people who attended the Glasgow rally was Humza Yousaf, minister for Europe and International Development with the Scottish Government who said that he had brought “the solidarity of the First Minister” and declared: “it is not cartoons that insult the prophet Muhammad, but terrorists who kill innocent people, who insult the prophet. Nothing that can be written or drawn with a pen can ever warrant retaliation with a gun. We are here to stand with our friends in France.”

The event had been organised by four French students, Bart Fourier, 22, Baptiste Grau, 20, David Stoper, 20, and Cyprienne Delgay, 17 and today Ms Delgay, a student of psychology at Strathclyde University said; “We want to show our solidarity with what is taking place in Paris, we want to show our support for the freedom of the press.”

While David Stoper said in a speech: “The fight for freedom, the fight for democracy and the fight against racism and anti-Semitism, the fight for the brotherhood of human beings continues. We will triumph over murderous madness with our brains and our hearts.”

After reading out the names of the victims, the organisers then began to sing the La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, while the many Scots hummed along. Together they then marched the length of Buchanan Street in Glasgow holding pencils and pens aloft and signs that declared; “Je suis Charlie” as well as copies of The Sunday Post in which a weeping Our Wullie said: “Oor Charlie, your Charlie, a’body’s Charlie.”

In Edinburgh Ian Rankin joined a crowd of hundreds at the French Institute in Edinburgh to raise his pen in silent remembrance of those killed in France. Flowers and candles lined the gates of the Randolph Crescent building as around 650 people observed the two minute silence, at an event organised by members of the public through Facebook. Bagpipes were played to the emotional crowd, who stood silent as the names of all the victims were read out.

Observers then queued in the rain to sign a book of condolences. Ludovic Farine, 25, an engineer living in Edinburgh, originally from the East of France near the Swiss border, attended the ceremony with five of his friends. He said: “We have all seen this horrible thing and it’s important that we can all come together, we all want to show our support. I skyped my family at home after, to talk to them about what was going on. The thing is, it could have happened anywhere.”

Mark Abraham, 26, an HR manager, originally from Ireland, lived in France for many years. He said: “It was an arena to show solidarity and to stand together - to stand up for freedom and peace. The paper is a symbol of democracy in France and I thought it was really important that we all held our pens up during the silence. It was also nice to hear the bagpipes, to say we are in Scotland, but we are here with you.”

Catherine Guiat, 46, who works at the French Institute, brought her two children with her to the vigil. She said: “I don’t think there is any word that can describe what happened, People I speak to in France are in shock. It was a historical moment in France and has affected so many people from different backgrounds.”

Ian Rankin, took to social media after the event, to say how emotional it made him feel. He tweeted: “Very moving to attend the vigil outside the French Consulate in Edinburgh, the crowd holding pens aloft for the minute’s silence.”