A second murder with racial and anti-Muslim motives has occurred in southern France, just five weeks after the stabbing death of Aboubakar Cissé, a young Malian Muslim, in a mosque on April 25. The latest victim, a 45-year-old Tunisian man, was shot dead on Saturday, May 31, in Puget-sur-Argens, near the French Riviera.
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In both cases, prosecutors have cited racism as an aggravating factor. However, unlike the first case, which was handled by a local investigating judge, the French National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT) has taken over the investigation into the Tunisian man’s death.
The PNAT opened a preliminary investigation on Monday on charges of “premeditated murder and attempted murder in connection with a terrorist enterprise, committed on the basis of race or religion,” as well as “criminal terrorist conspiracy.”
Since 2017, intelligence services have noted a resurgence of the far-right terrorist threat, leading the justice system to open 20 terrorist investigations linked to this ideology, primarily for foiled attack plots. However, in its six years of existence since its creation in 2019, this is the first time the PNAT has handled a homicide potentially inspired by far-right ideology.
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