2023-06-11 20:14:00
“PTell me about love “… the city of Annecy chose this famous song on Sunday in tribute to the victims and heroes of the knife attack that took place this week in a kindergarten near the lake.
This haven of peace located near the historic center turned Thursday morning into a “scene of terror” when a man stabbed four young children and two adults, all out of danger now, as recalled by the mayor EELV François Astorg during the citizen rally.
Faced with such an act of “cruelty and barbarism”, “there is no choice but to respond with unity, solidarity and hope”, he said in a brief speech in attendance of several hundred people.
In the audience, Shana Barragan, a 27-year-old teacher, said she was “upset”: “It’s good to see that there are so many people here. But it’s still painful”.
Very moved, the crowd applauds when a singer interprets Juliette Greco, the older ones humming in chorus the refrain “Speak to me of love, tell me tender things”.
Himself targeted by hateful messages from the far right which accuses him of having favored immigration, the mayor of Annecy called in his speech to “choose love over destruction”, to react with “empathy and courage”, to “not give in to fear, to the temptation of mistrust”.
The assailant, a Syrian refugee who recently left his host country, Sweden, after years of family life, was indicted for “attempted murder” and taken to pre-trial detention on Saturday. Mutic since his arrest, Abdalmasih H. was placed in an emergency protection cell “in the Aiton prison center, in Savoie, equipped to prevent suicides, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The psychiatrist who examined him “noted the absence of frank delusional elements”, but it is too early to comment on a possible “psychiatric pathology”, according to the Annecy prosecutor’s office.
The vital prognosis of the six wounded, most of them hospitalized in absolute emergency after the attack, is no longer engaged, according to the same source.
Since Thursday, a crowd has continuously flocked to the playground where the drama took place, gradually invaded by candles, flowers, stuffed animals and balloons. “Alba, Ennio, Ettie, Peter, a little thought”, says a message inscribed in a heart, in support of the little victims, two French, a British and a Dutchwoman, all under the age of three. A 78-year-old Frenchman and a 73-year-old Portuguese man were also injured in the attack.
“Sharing and conviviality”
“Life must go on … we must not live in fear, we must live in hope”, insists Jean-Paul Naville, a 64-year-old retiree, who came as a neighbor for the rally.
“Let’s not forget the victims of this terrible act, more than ever the Festival must be a moment of sharing and conviviality”, declares the opening message of the International Animation Film Festival, a major annual event that brings together from Sunday evening very many participants. Last year, it welcomed some 13,000 people.
In his speech, the mayor of Annecy also paid a vibrant tribute to all those who “showed courage” during the attack.
Among these ordinary heroes, two municipal agents tried to stop the attacker with a shovel, a young pedal boat rental company and a mathematics teacher on an outing with students tried to intervene, a childminder rushed to rescue two injured children, a young Catholic tourist chased the attacker… Some were present on the platform, alongside the relief, caregivers, police and firefighters.
President Emmanuel Macron had already expressed his “gratitude” and “pride” to them on Friday during an official ceremony. He had particularly lingered with Henri, the young Catholic pilgrim, celebrated on social networks as “the hero with a backpack”.
The hashtag #MerciHenri has become an antiphon on far-right accounts, very focused, too, by the hashtag #francocide, a term notably used by Eric Zemmour (Reconquest!). On the evening of the attack, a few dozen ultra-right activists gathered in the park and then in the streets of Annecy chanting “Blue, white, red, France to the French”.
After fleeing his country at war, Abdalmasih H. had obtained a permanent residence permit in Sweden at the end of 2013, where he had obtained asylum, which gave him refugee status.
“No terrorist motivation appears at this stage”, according to the prosecutor. Witnesses only heard him “recall his wife and daughter and pronounce the name of Jesus Christ” during the attack.
bur-sof-dfa-lv/swi
11/06/2023 20:13:03 – Annecy (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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