Denis Favier

Denis Favier (born May 18, 1959) is a French officer known for commanding the mission to remove hijackers from Air France Flight 8969. From 2013 to 2016, he was the General-Director of the French Gendarmerie.

Favier was born on 18 May 1959 in Lons-le-Saunier. In 1979 he joined the military academy of Saint-Cyr. In 1992 he was appointed commander of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group (GIGN). In 1994 he was promoted to chef d'escadron (major). In 1994, he commanded the assault against the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, who had earlier taken the passengers of Air France Flight 8969 hostage. Following this incident, he gave interviews in silhouette or facial obscurity, which he still does until today as it was believed that the co-militants of the terrorists his team killed offered a reward for his assassination. In 2007, after various positions in the Gendarmerie, he was again appointed commander of the GIGN, which underwent restructuring. In 2008 he joined the French forces leading the assault on the pirates who had captured the ship Ponant near Somalia. In 2008 he was promoted to a general. In 2013 he was appointed director-general of the Gendarmerie. On 9 January 2015 he led the operation to arrest Chérif and Saïd Kouachi following a hostage situation in Dammartin-en-Goële. The Kouachi brothers were suspected of being the perpetrators of the shooting at Paris newspaper Charlie Hebdo on 7 January 2015.