Edouard Babel, mayor of Magnières, a small town of about 300 inhabitants near Lunéville in Meurthe-et-Moselle, was violently attacked in the night from Saturday to Sunday. He had gone to the village hall to ask for calm to people gathered to celebrate a birthday.
"It's very hard, it's gratuitous violence," added the mayor who filed a complaint but does not intend to resign. An 18-year-old man and a 16- year-old minor were arrested and taken into custody.