"The burial of Chérif Chekatt's body was held early this morning in Strasbourg in strict anonymity," said the town hall without specifying where he had been buried. The mayor of the city Roland Ries (PS) had initially indicated that he did not want Cherif Chekatt to be buried in his commune, before easing his position. "I would like this to finish as soon as possible now, I think there was a debate, including internally in the municipality," Roland Ries said Thursday.
"The law is the law, it must be buried." He had previously mentioned a possible repatriation of the body of Chérif Chekatt in Algeria, where his family is from, before giving up. "It's up to us to find a way to bury it because burial is constitutional of civilization, I was actually reluctant at first because I did not want a murderer to be in the cemetery with those who were its victims, but I must face the obvious, the law is the law, it must be buried and it may be either in the Muslim cemetery of Strasbourg or in a civilian cemetery, but without drums and trumpets and in the "anonymity," he added.
The French Council of Muslim worship (CFCM) also called on Wednesday the city of Strasbourg to bury "as quickly as possible" and "anonymously" Cherif Chekatt, to "avoid making a victim".
Chérif Chekatt killed five people and wounded five others in a shooting in the historic center of Strasbourg on 11 December before being shot by a police patrol after two days of stalking in the district of Neudorf, a district of south of the Alsatian capital.