Slain Editor's Partner: 'He Died Standing Up'

Jeannette Bougrab, the partner of slain Charlie Hebdo editor Stephane Charbonnier, says he “died standing up.” She believes he should be honored for his sacrifice on behalf of free expression in France.

Appearing on Sky News, Bougrab described the sequence of events that led to her learning her partner had been murdered Wednesday morning. “I sent him a text, a second text, third text, and then I phoned him and he wasn’t answering, and he never did that,” she explained. When she arrived at the scene she learned Charbonnier was dead. Bougrab added, “Afterwards I wanted to stay a bit longer, because I didn’t want to leave his body. The bodies were just on the ground.”

“He died standing up. He was excuted,” Bougrab told Sky News. She believes he and his “comrades” should be given a medal by the French government in honor of their sacrifice for free expression.