French lawmakers on Tuesday, April 29, observed a minute's silence to honor Aboubakar Cissé, a young Malian man who was stabbed to death in a mosque, while a cousin of the victim said the family did not feel safe in the country. Friday's killing of 22-year-old Cissé caused shock, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to say there was no place for religious hate in French society and Prime Minister François Bayrou to denounce an "Islamophobic" crime.
France is home to the largest Muslim community in the European Union and the murder has put pressure on right-wing ministers with a tough stance on immigration. Some critics say the crime symbolizes a rise in anti-Muslim attacks.
"To his family and friends, on behalf of all of us, I would like to express our deepest condolences. To all our Muslim compatriots, I wish to express our solidarity," Assemblée Nationale President Yaël Braun-Pivet said in Parliament. She also urged politicians to reject "any political exploitation of this tragedy."
Some politicians had earlier said Braun-Pivet did not initially back the idea amid resistance from the likes of far-right leader Marine Le Pen. After the moment of silence, observed by all the lawmakers present in Parliament, the session grew tense, with one hard left lawmaker, Abdelkader Lahmar, calling for the dismissal of Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau. Retailleau has been criticized for not going to the scene of the stabbing or taking the time to meet the victim's family.
Last Friday, after initially praying alongside Cissé in the southern village of La Grand-Combe, the alleged murderer stabbed the worshipper dozens of times and then filmed him with a mobile phone while shouting insults against Islam. The suspect, a French national born in Lyon in 2004 and named only as Olivier A., surrendered to police in Italy on Monday after nearly three days on the run. Earlier Tuesday, a number of lawmakers met with the victim's family at the Parliament.
"We wanted to assure them of the support of the Assemblée Nationale," said Green MP Sabrina Sebaihi, pointing to "serious" failings on the part of the government, including Retailleau. "Bruno Retailleau took more than 48 hours to react," she said.
"It is an obviously Islamophobic act," added Socialist leader Olivier Faure.
Cissé's cousin, Yoro Cissé, said that no member of the government had contacted him or other members of the family. "We only saw their support on social media," he told Agence France-Presse (AFP). Yoro Cissé said the family wanted to convey the message "that we don't feel safe, that we are afraid."
"We want to feel safe," he said. "France is a country we love. We want to feel like everyone else."
Speaking in Parliament, Bayrou said people in France had a duty to live in peace and respect each other's differences. "Step by step, day by day, we will defend our duty to live together," he said. "We have a duty to build something that brings us together, that makes us grow and that makes us understand each other, however different we may be," he added.