Paris attacker shows no remorse after killing a German tourist
It is very likely that he acted alone, the statement continued. He had probably been preparing the attack for several weeks.
The deadly knife attack has reignited the debate in France about how to deal with jihadists. "The question is whether we need to tighten the law to prevent something like this from happening again," government spokesman Olivier Véran told RTL. "He fulfilled all the requirements and still managed to kill someone," he added.
The perpetrator, his parents and another person were in police custody, according to information from the public prosecutor's office. Parallel to the investigation by the French anti-terrorism prosecutor's office, the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe also opened an investigation.
The 26-year-old had attacked a small group of Filipino tourists near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday evening. When a cab driver tried to intervene, he shouted "Allah is great". A 23-year-old man, who has German and Filipino citizenship, succumbed to his injuries. The two others, including the girlfriend of the man killed, were physically unharmed but are in shock.
The perpetrator was well known to the authorities: He had been in prison for four years for planning a jihadist attack in Paris, then underwent psychological treatment for three years until last April and remained under surveillance by the secret service.
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused the attacker's doctors of making mistakes in his psychiatric treatment. "There was obviously a failure", Darmanin told the BFMTV channel. "The doctors have said several times that he is better, that he is more normal", he said.
The right-wing populist opposition reiterated its calls for attackers with dual nationality to be stripped of their French citizenship and for radicalized foreigners to be deported. "Then the secret services would need to observe far fewer people," said the leader of the Rassemblement National (RN) parliamentary group, Marine Le Pen, on the France Bleu radio station.
The perpetrator, Armand R., was born in the chic Paris suburb of Neuilly, comes from an Iranian, non-religious family and had both French and Iranian citizenship. He converted to Islam at the age of 18 and soon turned to jihadist ideology.
On the evening of the attack, R. published a two-minute video in which he declared his allegiance to the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS). When he was arrested, he justified his act by saying that he could not bear "the killing of Muslims in Afghanistan and Palestine".
He published the video on the online service X (formerly Twitter) from an account he had only set up in October. He had previously spread numerous posts about Hamas and the situation in the Gaza Strip there.
According to the newspaper "Le Parisien", his victim, 23-year-old Collin, was a nurse. He had initially worked in the Philippine city of San Fernando. He had been in Germany since January, where he worked in a nursing home.
His girlfriend, who was unharmed thanks to the efforts of a cab driver, was also a nurse. The two had been on a vacation trip. The two injured are a 65-year-old British tourist and a 60-year-old Frenchman.
According to the newspaper "Le Figaro", 391 "Islamist terrorists" and 462 "prisoners with a tendency towards radicalization" are currently being held in France. Not only those who are released from prison are problematic, but also the 50 or so convicts who have been sentenced to long prison terms and act as recruiters in prisons, writes the newspaper.
Read also:
- The debate about dealing with jihadists in France has been sparked once again following the deadly knife attack.
- Olivier Véran, the government spokesman, suggested that tightening the law might be necessary to prevent such incidents in the future.
- The perpetrator, according to the public prosecutor's office, was in police custody along with his parents and another individual.
- The investigation into the attack is being conducted by both the French and German authorities, with the federal prosecutor's office in Karlsruhe also involved.
- The 23-year-old victim, who had German and Filipino citizenship, was a nurse on vacation with his girlfriend, also a nurse.
- Despite being known to the authorities, having served time for planning a jihadist attack in Paris, and undergoing psychological treatment, the perpetrator was able to carry out the attack.
- Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accused the doctor responsible for the perpetrator's psychiatric treatment of making mistakes.
- Extremist political groups in France have called for individuals with dual nationality and radicalized foreigners to be stripped of their French citizenship or deported.
- Born in a wealthy Paris suburb, the perpetrator converted to Islam at 18 and quickly adopted jihadist ideologies.
- Just before the attack, the perpetrator published a video on the online service X, pledging allegiance to the jihadist militia Islamic State (IS).
- According to the newspaper Le Parisien, the victim, Collin, was working in a nursing home in Germany before the attack.
Source: www.stern.de
