The German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said: upset », Sunday December 3, the day after a knife attack near the Eiffel Tower which cost the life of a 23-year-old German-Filipino tourist. The assailant, who also injured two people, was arrested: Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab, a 26-year-old Franco-Iranian, was known to the French authorities as a radical Islamist with an “unstable” mental state.
4 mins
The German Interior Ministry was the first to speak out this Sunday, a few hours later the attack that occurred on Saturday evening in Paris between the Quai de Grenelle and Bir Hakeim, near the Eiffel Tower. This ” Islamist attack (…) is an abominable crime “, declared Nancy Faeser during an interview with the Funke media group. The German Interior Minister addressed her thoughts “ to the family and friends of the person killed, as well as others injured by this horrific act “.
A couple of German tourists were hit: the 23-year-old man, who also has Filipino nationality, died after receiving stab wounds. The woman who accompanied him was not physically attacked » but is « extremely shocked », said the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.
Also armed with a hammer, the assailant also attacked two men, a 60-year-old Frenchman and a 66-year-old British man. The French Minister of Health, Aurélien Rousseau, announced on France 3 that these victims “ are now in good health » physical, suffer from “ superficial trauma » but that the « psychological trauma will be immense “.
“ Germany is fighting side by side with France against Islamist terrorism. Our security services work closely together », added Nancy Faeser. Shortly after, the German Chancellor spoke in turn. “ I am shocked by the terrorist attack in Paris which killed a German and injured several people. Our thoughts are with the injured, the families and friends of the victims. This once again highlights why we must fight against hatred and terror », Wrote Olaf Scholz on X (ex-Twitter).
Ich bestürzt über die terroristische Attacke in Paris, bei der a Deutscher getötet and und mehrere Menschen verletzt wurden. Unsere Gedanken sind bei den Verletzten, Familien und Freunden der Opfer. Wieder wird klar, warum wir uns Hass und Terror entschlossen entgegen stellen.
— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) December 3, 2023
The assailant, a man with a “very unstable profile, very easily influenced”
Arrested on Saturday evening by police officers who had to use an electric pulse gun, the attacker is in custody at the anti-terrorist section (SAT) of the Paris criminal brigade. Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab is a 26-year-old Franco-Iranian, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine) to Iranian refugee parents. A security source describes him to Agence France Presse as a man with “ very unstable profile, very easily influenced “. He had already been arrested in 2016 by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) for a planned violent action in La Défense, the business district west of Paris.
The man was sentenced to five years in prison for criminal conspiracy to prepare an act of terrorism, including one year suspended and probation for three years. He had undergone psychiatric medical treatment throughout his detention and after his release in 2020. He was placed under judicial supervision and under Micas, an administrative system with measures aimed at preventing acts of terrorism. “ The first months were encouraging “, he seemed to have ” detached from religion » after his release, according to a security source.
Since his release from prison, the individual had lived with his parents in Essonne and remained under treatment for significant psychiatric disorders. As of March 2022, he stopped his drug treatment in agreement with his doctor, according to a source close to the investigation. Despite an order for treatment from a judge in 2022, the doctors did not consider it necessary to resume treatment and did not identify any psychiatric danger according to the latest report of April 21, 2023, according to this same source.
I send all my condolences to the family and loved ones of the German national who died this evening during the terrorist attack in Paris and think with emotion of the people currently injured and in care.
My most sincere thanks to the forces of…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) December 3, 2023
Three members of the attacker’s entourage arrested
Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab is registered in the automated judicial file of perpetrators of terrorist offenses (Fijait). According to Gérald Darmanin, the author of the attack said “ God is great » several times and allegedly told the police, a few moments after his arrest, that he “ could no longer bear that Muslims were dying, both in Afghanistan and in Palestine “. He also reportedly stated that he “ resented what was happening in Gaza and that France would be complicit in what Israel was doing “. He published a video on social networks claiming responsibility for his attack, according to police and security sources.
Three ” members of the entourage » of Armand Rajabpour-Miyandoab are currently in police custody, the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office said on Sunday. Anti-terrorism prosecutor Jean-François Ricard is holding a press conference on Sunday at 7:30 p.m., announced the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office (Pnat), in charge of the investigation. In addition, a security meeting is held at the end of the afternoon in Matignon around Élisabeth Borne, at the request of Emmanuel Macron, in the presence in particular of the Ministers of the Interior Gérald Darmanin, of Justice Éric Dupond-Moretti and Health Aurélien Rousseau.