An investigation was opened after the attack on Saturday of a 21-year-old Jewish student in Marseille “because of belonging to a religion”Agence France-Presse (AFP) learned on Wednesday September 13 from the Marseille prosecutor’s office.
The investigations are being carried out for “aggravated violence with a weapon against a victim due to belonging to a religion and extortion of funds and values aggravated due to belonging to a religion”, detailed the public prosecutor of Marseille, Dominique Laurens at AFP.
According to the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (CRIF) Marseille Provence, which condemned ” with force “ this attack, this young person who was wearing a kippah was heading to the synagogue on Saturday for Shabbat prayers in the 13e borough.
Anti-Semitic insults and threats
His attackers then pretended to rush towards him, uttered anti-Semitic insults and threatened him to get on his knees. Once on the ground, they stole his watch and bracelet. “The CRIF Marseille Provence will join the victim’s complaint and will become a civil party, taking into account the aggravating circumstance of anti-Semitism”announces the organization in a press release.
“This despicable act must not go unpunished. We must intensify the fight against the anti-Semitism that has swept through our country since the beginning of this century.”reacted the president of the Republicans of the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis, Martine Val, on X (formerly Twitter).
The mayor of Marseille, Benoît Payan, at the head of Printemps Marseille (left-wing union), also condemns “firmly” this aggressionbelieving that “anti-Semitism, hateful violence, rejection and discrimination are contrary to the values of our city”.
The World with AFP