The French government forced the city of Reims to become the home of Said Kouachi’s grave. Officials from the city had been saying for days that they had no interest in burying one of the terrorists responsible for attacks last week in France that killed 17 people. “I don’t want a grave that serves to attract fanatics. I don’t want a place that promotes hate,” Reims Mayor Aranud Robinet said earlier this week, noting he’d “categorically refuse” the request from the Kouachi family to bury him in the city, which is 89 miles east of Paris. But on Saturday, Robinet said the French government enforced a law that gives anyone the right to be buried where they last lived, reports the Associated Press.
“He was buried last night, in the most discrete, anonymous way possible,” Robinet said. Kouachi’s widow reportedly did not attend the burial out of fear that she would be followed by reporters, her lawyer said.
The other two gunmen involved in the shootings last week are yet to be buried. Chérif Kouachi will be buried in Gennevilliers, outside Paris. There is no word yet on where Amedy Coulibaly will be buried.*
*Correction, Jan. 17, 2015, 3:01 p.m.: This post originally misspelled Chérif Kouachi’s last name.
