AhlulBayt News Agency: On Tuesday, French lawmakers paid tribute to Aboubakar Cisse, a Muslim man fatally stabbed in a mosque attack in the southern Gard region last week. The French Parliament observed a minute of silence to honor Cisse, with National Assembly President Yael Braun-Pivet describing the killing as a “cowardly assassination” that deeply “shocked the nation.”
Braun-Pivet explained that the decision to hold the tribute followed consultations with parliamentary group leaders, despite initial disagreements. She stressed the importance of marking the moment with “sobriety and dignity,” addressing widespread public emotion and countering any attempts to exploit Cisse’s tragic death.
The tribute, held at 3 pm local time, unfolded amid political tensions. Mathilde Panot, leader of the La France Insoumise (LFI) group, accused Braun-Pivet of initially rejecting the proposal under pressure from the far-right Rassemblement National (RN). Panot emphasized the significance of the tribute, calling it a stand against Islamophobia and a refusal to trivialize such a grave crime.
Marine Le Pen, head of RN, warned against the “instrumentalization” of the tribute by left-wing parties, arguing that minutes of silence are typically reserved for cases with unanimous agreement.
The suspected attacker, Olivier H., a French citizen of Bosnian origin born in 2004, surrendered to Italian authorities late Sunday after days on the run. He is now in custody, with extradition proceedings underway to return him to France. Authorities revealed that the victim, a 24-year-old Malian national, was stabbed between 40 and 50 times while praying inside the mosque early Friday.
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