Tunisian Man Killed in France, Family Seeks Justice
TUNIS: The sister of a Tunisian man shot dead in France called for justice on Tuesday, saying her brother was on a video call with family when he was killed.
Hichem Miraoui, 46, was killed on Saturday in Puget-sur-Argens in southern France when a neighbour shot him five times.
'I want justice for my brother, the victim of a terrorist act,' Hanen Miraoui said in a telephone call from France, where she lives.
She urged Tunisian authorities to 'stand by Tunisians in France and closely follow the case so that justice is done for my brother'.
She said Hichem was in a video call with family, including their mother in Tunisia, when he was shot.
'We were discussing Eid preparations,' she said. 'He was joking with our sick mother when I heard him grunt and the call ended.'
The suspect, now in police custody, had posted two racist videos online and intended to 'disturb public order through terror', a source close to the investigation told AFP.
French authorities said he had also wounded another neighbour, a Turkish national.
France's national anti-terrorism prosecutor confirmed a suspect had been detained on Monday.
Hanen said the suspect 'was known in my brother's neighbourhood for his hatred of Arabs'.
She said six weeks before his death, Hichem found graffiti on his Vespa reading 'dirty Arab'.
He will be buried in their hometown of Kairouan in central Tunisia, she added.
Tunisian Interior Minister Khaled Nouri condemned the killing in a phone call with his French counterpart Bruno Retailleau, calling it a 'terrorist' act.
He said it caused 'deep outrage and sorrow among the Tunisian public' and stressed 'the need to protect the Tunisian community in France'.
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