French mosque murder suspect, 21, surrenders in Italy
A man suspected of stabbing a young Malian to death in a mosque in southern France and then filming his victim writhing in agony has surrendered to police in Italy, French and Italian authorities said on Monday.
But the suspect, named by Italian police as 21-year-old Oliver Hadzovic but identified by French prosecutors as Olivier A., was not motivated by hatred of Islam, his lawyer told AFP.
Giovanni Salvietti said he had told investigators he had "killed the first person he saw" and that "he has said nothing against Islam nor mosques".
Friday's killing of Aboubakar Cisse in a French village caused shock, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to say there was no place for religious hate in French society and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to denounce an "Islamophobic" crime.
Hadzovic, a French national born in Lyon, "surrendered himself" to a police station in Pistoia northwest of Florence on Sunday, Abdelkrim Grini, the prosecutor of the southern French city of Ales, told AFP.
He said he was "the perpetrator of the murder of a Muslim worshipper", Italian police said in a statement.
The man, who is from a Bosnian family, went to the police station in Pistoia on Sunday evening "accompanied by a lawyer and a close relative living in the town", said the Italian police.
"Faced with the effectiveness of the measures put in place, the suspect had no option but to hand himself in," said Grini.
Italian officials are in touch with French authorities to ensure that the suspect "is handed over to justice", the Italian police said.
On Friday, after initially praying alongside Cisse, a young Malian in his 20s, the suspect stabbed the worshipper dozens of times and then filmed him with a mobile phone while shouting insults against Islam.
They were alone in the mosque as the time and Cisse's body was only discovered when worshippers began arriving later that morning for Friday prayers.
- 'I did it' -
The attack in the village of La Grand-Combe in the Gard region was the latest in a series of fatal stabbings in France in recent years.
AFP | Alain JOCARD
France is home to the largest Muslim community in the European Union.
More than 70 French police officers had been mobilised since Friday to "locate and arrest" the perpetrator, considered "potentially extremely dangerous", the prosecutor said.
"After boasting about his act, after practically claiming responsibility for it, he made comments that would suggest he intended to commit similar acts again," Grini said on Sunday.
In the video that the suspect made just after committing his crime, he congratulated himself, saying "I did it" and insulting Allah.
Speaking to broadcaster BFMTV, lawyer Mourad Battikh, who represents the victim's family, said it was "absolutely shocking" that the anti-terror prosecutor's office had not taken up the case.
- 'Act of terrorism' -
The murder has put pressure on Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, a hardline right-winger with a tough stance on immigration.
While he met Grini in Ales at the weekend, Retailleau did not visit the scene of the murder in La Grand-Combe.
"Put yourself in the shoes of the faithful, who have the impression and the feeling that this double standard is materialising a little more every day. It's absolutely shocking", Grini said.
French government spokeswoman Sophie Primas insisted there was "no double standard" in the authorities' reaction.
AFP | Miguel MEDINA
"Bruno Retailleau is very determined to fight against all forms of segregation, stigmatisation and violence against any community whatsoever, including of course against our Muslim compatriots," she said.
The suspect, who is unemployed, lived in La Grande-Combe, and Grini said he "remained under the radar" until the stabbing.
Prosecutors also believe that someone helped the suspect to travel to Italy.
In La Grand-Combe, more than 1,000 people gathered on Sunday for a silent march in memory of the victim.
They marched to the town hall from the Khadidja Mosque, where the stabbing occurred.
Several hundred people also gathered in Paris on Sunday, including left-wing firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, who accused Retailleau of cultivating an "Islamophobic climate".
President Emmanuel Macron expressed "the nation's support" to the victim's family and "to our Muslim compatriots".
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By Philippe Siuberski
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