David Montagné with AFP // Photo credit: OLIVIER CHASSIGNOLE / AFP 07:54, June 10, 2023, modified at 07:56, June 10, 2023

The custody of the Syrian refugee who stabbed six people, including four very young children, in a park in Annecy ends Saturday. Investigators are still trying to understand the motives despite his silence.

The custody of the Syrian refugee who stabbed six people including four very young children in a park in Annecy ends Saturday, investigators still trying to unravel his motivations despite his silence. The prosecutor of Annecy Line Bonnet-Mathis must hold in the middle of the day a press conference devoted to the judicial consequences for Abdalmasih H., whose condition had been judged Friday "compatible with police custody" after a psychiatric expertise.

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On Thursday, the magistrate had considered that his motivations seemed devoid of "apparent terrorist motive", adding that he could not "exclude at this stage a senseless act". Since his arrest, the 31-year-old assailant has given no explanation and "obstructed police custody", including "rolling on the ground". He is also "totally mute", sources close to the investigation told AFP.

'Investigations are ongoing'

"Madness is too easy an excuse, it is important to know that he is being auditioned and that he is not considered simply as someone delusional," Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Friday night. "He probably has a motivation that investigators will try to understand," he said on BFMTV. "Even if there is no hearing, the investigations continue," including "to establish his personality, his career, what he has done since he is in France," said a source close to the investigation.

The individual should be presented this weekend to an investigating judge who will notify him of his indictment for attempted murder. He is then expected to be remanded in custody. An outcome that seems inevitable given the criminal nature of the acts committed.