A man suspected of stabbing a young Malian man to death inside a mosque in southern France and filming the victim’s final moments has handed himself in to police in Italy, a French prosecutor confirmed to AFP on Monday.
The suspect, identified as “Olivier A.,” a French citizen born in Lyon in 2004, surrendered on Sunday at a police station in Pistoia, near Florence, according to Abdelkrim Grini, the prosecutor for the southern French city of Ales.
“This is very satisfying for me as a prosecutor,” Grini said. “Faced with the effectiveness of the measures put in place, the suspect had no option but to hand himself in — and that is the best thing he could have done.”
Authorities plan to issue a European arrest warrant to facilitate the suspect’s extradition to France, Grini added.
More than 70 French police officers had been mobilised since Friday to track down the suspect, described as “potentially extremely dangerous.” Grini had previously noted that after allegedly boasting about his actions, the suspect had made further disturbing comments suggesting an intent to commit similar attacks.
Olivier A., who comes from a Bosnian family, was reportedly unemployed and had ties to the southern Gard region. He resided in La Grand-Combe, a small town north of Ales. Before the killing, he had no record with the justice system or police, according to authorities.
The victim, Aboubakar Cisse, aged in his twenties, was fatally attacked inside the Khadidja Mosque in La Grand-Combe. On Sunday, more than 1,000 people took part in a silent march through the town in Cisse’s memory, walking from the mosque to the town hall.
In Paris, several hundred demonstrators also gathered later the same day, including veteran left-wing politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who criticised Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau for what he described as fostering an “Islamophobic climate.”
President Emmanuel Macron also addressed the nation via X (formerly Twitter), stating, “Racism and hatred based on religion will never have a place in France,” and offering his support to Cisse’s family and France’s Muslim community.
