The suspect of Saturday's knife attack in Villeurbanne is a 33-year-old Afghan who was granted asylum in France in 2018, under the specific status of "subsidiary protection". AFP learned the information from the French Office of Immigration and Integration (OFII). The man, who partially acknowledged the facts after the attack that killed a 19-year-old, was known by several identities and three birth dates. He had explained this weekend the public prosecutor of Lyon, Nicolas Jacquet.
Arrived in France in 2016 "without family"
Arriving in France in 2016 "without family", he obtained in May 2018 the "subsidiary protection" of OFPRA (French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons) "by presenting himself as having been born in 1986", which corresponds to one of the ages (33 years) under which he was known authorities, said Didier Leschi, director of the OFII. Subsidiary protection is granted, according to Ofpra, to "any person whose situation does not meet the definition of refugee status but for whom there are serious and proven grounds for believing that he or she would run a real risk in his country. to suffer "a serious injury, such as the death penalty, torture, or a" serious and individual threat to his life "due to" a situation of armed conflict ".
No referral to the antiterrorist prosecution
He possessed, like any person placed under this status, a temporary residence permit for one year renewable. The card was due to expire in 2020, suggesting that it has already been renewed at least once since it was obtained in 2018. Since 2018, it was still housed in a center for asylum seekers even if its status no longer allowed it. continued Didier Leschi. "Due to the personality of the respondent and in the absence of elements allowing to directly attach his passage to the act to a terrorist enterprise", the National Anti-Terrorist Office (PNAT) has not been seized at this stage , for this attack which also made eight wounded.