A 69-year-old man suspected of killing three Kurds at a Paris community center on Friday appeared in court, where he was first publicly identified as William M., a retired train driver who accused an investigating judge of racially motivated murder and attempted murder. , religious or national intolerance. Le Monde wrote about it today.
The accused appeared in court with a black bruise around his eye, wearing a blue hospital gown. Surrounded by five police officers, he confirmed his identity and agreed to a conversation behind closed doors. Le Monde reports that the man showed suicidal tendencies while in custody and will therefore be closely monitored until the trial proceeds.
The detained pensioner stated in the conclusion that he had “pathological hatred of foreigners” and a desire to kill these people. On Saturday, he was transferred from custody to a psychiatric hospital with security guards, but before the court session he was returned to normal detention and returned to it even after he was formally charged, which he was informed about by the investigating judge.
On Friday, according to investigators, a man went with a gun to Anghien Street, where he knew there was a Kurdish community center, after which he apparently fired shots, after which he was detained with a briefcase containing a large number of cartridges .. The victims of the attack were a young singer, a woman who helped other Kurdish women, and a Kurd who regularly participated in events held at the community center.
The act of violence shocked France’s Kurdish community, which held a memorial demonstration on Monday. The procession began around noon at the site of Friday’s attack, where people set up three small altars on the sidewalk with photographs of the dead. Hundreds then took to Rue Lafayette, where three Kurdish activists were killed in an unexplained attack in 2013.
During the march, slogans such as “Our martyrs do not die” or “Woman, life, freedom” and calls for justice, AFP reports. Some members of the Kurdish community feel that the French police have not done enough to protect them.
France has also been criticized by Turkey, which has called its ambassador over what it called “anti-Turkish propaganda” following the killing of three people. Kurds make up 15 to 20 percent of Turkey’s population and have long sought independence, or at least autonomy, from the central government in Ankara. Kurds also live in northern Syria or northwestern Iran.
Source: Blesk