The Minister of the Interior described them as "heinous acts". Several tags painted in red including a swastika and a middle finger were discovered during the night from Saturday to Sunday on the facade of the Agen mosque.
According to the first elements of the investigation, a swastika was among these inscriptions drawn in red, a judicial source told AFP on Sunday, while a prefectural source also reported the presence on the walls of the edifice of drawings representing "a middle finger and a male sex".
Firmness and indignation
In a tweet, the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin expressed his “support for the Muslims of Agen” and condemned “with the greatest firmness the unacceptable degradations that targeted the mosque of Agen. These odious acts are contrary to the values of the Republic ”.
I condemn with the greatest firmness the unacceptable degradations which have targeted the Agen mosque.
These odious acts are contrary to the values of the Republic.
Support for Muslims in Agen. CC. @ Prefet47
On twitter, the Lot-et-Garonne prefecture has also condemned “firmly” “odious acts (…) in total contradiction” with “freedom of worship”. Messaoud Settati, president of the Association of Muslims of Agenais, manager of the place of worship, told AFP that he was alerted "around 2:00 am" by passers-by who had noticed these inscriptions on the facade, also comprising a series of long "waves" painted red.
The Prefect of Lot-et-Garonne strongly condemns the degradation and odious acts committed on the Agen mosque. They are in total contradiction with the values of the Republic and the freedom of worship.
- Prefect of Lot-et-Garonne (@ Prefet47) July 26, 2020The CCTV images of the place of worship were seized by the Agen police station in charge of the investigation, he said.
A "provocation" and "an insult"
According to Mr. Settati, they show that a single man entered the building "shortly after midnight". “We cannot know if it is the work of a lost, lost person (…) It is the first time that we have had this kind of insult” on the mosque, he said. commented, without further details. His association is to meet with the prefecture at the end of the day.
In solidarity with the Muslims of Agen and @CfcmOfficiel, victims of racist tags and degradation on the walls of the city mosque. We must really give ourselves the means to combat this scourge of hatred with determination and firmness.
- Haïm Korsia (@HaimKorsia) July 26, 2020“The National Observatory against Islamophobia strongly condemns the racist inscriptions to which the Agen mosque has been the victim. He is delighted with the rapid reaction (...) of the Minister of the Interior and gives his support to the faithful ”, reacted to AFP its president Abdallah Zekri, also general delegate of the French Council of Muslim Worship (CFCM), principal government interlocutor in matters of Islam.
For Mr. Zekri, who "hopes that the authors of these acts are arrested and punished", "these registrations, five days before the feast of Aid (scheduled for Friday), are a provocation and an insult to French citizens of the Muslim faith of Agen ”.
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- Toulouse
- Racism
- Islamophobia
- Agen
- Mosque