Jacques Serais, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP 19:52 pm, June 08, 2023

A 31-year-old man of Syrian nationality attacked young children on Thursday in Annecy. Asked about the motives of the main suspect, the prosecutor of the city, Line Bonnet-Mathis, ensures that the first elements of the investigation make it possible to rule out the terrorist motive which must meet several criteria.

This is the question that arises on the evening of the Annecy tragedy: what can be the motivation of the 31-year-old man of Syrian nationality who stabbed young children? According to the city prosecutor, Line Bonnet-Mathis, the first elements of the case make it possible to rule out the terrorist motive. In reality, for the anti-terrorist prosecutor's office to take up the case, the investigators must first have serious indications of the terrorist connotation of the act.

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The personality and background of the suspect scrutinized scrupulously

In this case, the Annecy judicial police is responsible for this work. The agents look at the personality of the assailant, his background, his possible presence in war zones, the comments he could have made on social networks... For example, has he glorified terrorism on the Internet? Did he consult sites urging action? So many questions that investigators are asking.

They also look scrupulously at his practice of religion, as well as his family and friendly environment. In his entourage, are there radicalized individuals who may have been linked to terrorist organizations? All this information is transmitted in real time to the magistrates of the national anti-terrorist prosecutor's office, who decide accordingly if they take up the case, in order to deploy additional investigative resources and increase, for example, the duration of police custody from 48 to 96 hours.