Murdered because he was gay
They murdered their son because he was gay. Even so, François Chenu's parents wrote letters to the killers.
On Friday 13 September 2002, François Chenu went to Reims for the weekend. Shortly before, he had told his parents that he was gay. They had agreed that he would soon introduce his boyfriend to them.
The evening began in a gay bar. There he learned that the nearby Parc Léo-Lagrange was a meeting place for men. He went there.
In the park, three young men from the neo-Nazi scene were waiting, the youngest just sixteen. They had set out to beat someone up, not for the first time. They had not found an Arab, so they took a gay man. François refused to be intimidated. They beat and kicked him until he was unconscious and left him in the pond. He drowned. Two days later a walker found the body. When his sister asked the police about him, she was taken to the forensic institute.
At home, the attackers told what had happened. The parents of the youngest burned the victim's wallet and identity card but used his mobile phone. That led the investigators to the three. At the home of one of them, the police found Nazi memorabilia. In October 2004 they were sentenced to long prison terms.
What came afterwards is more unusual than the trial. Jean-Paul and Marie-Cécile Chenu wrote letters to their son's murderers. One of them replied. With the youngest, a correspondence developed that lasted for years. From this experience, an association for restorative justice emerged in France.
The director Olivier Meyrou accompanied the family for his documentary "Au-delà de la haine" ("Beyond Hatred"). It shows parents who want to understand rather than hate.