A man and a woman aged 21 were arrested in the process of tagging the mosque of Pantin (Seine-Saint-Denis) in the night from Friday to Saturday, according to the Bobigny prosecutor's office.
Read also: Administrative justice validates the temporary closure of the Pantin mosque
The words "
Mosque of teachers killers
", "
Justice for Samuel Paty
", "
Je suis Charlie
", were inscribed with a white bomb on the fence of the mosque, administratively closed for six months by decision of the Ministry of the Interior for having relayed a video denouncing the course of Samuel Paty.
The two young people were placed in custody, specifies the prosecution.
They were about to end the tag "
Islamism = fasci ..
" when they were arrested around 4:00 am, indicates a source close to the investigation.
Entries were cleared Saturday morning by city officials.
“
I am delighted that people have been arrested.
It is disappointing to see young people drawn into a gear that overtakes them.
We are in an atmosphere which calls for vigilance in mosques,
”M'hammed Henniche, head of the mosque and president of the Muslim Federation of Pantin, told AFP.
Reinforced patrols
For the PS mayor of Pantin Bertrand Kern, "
the authors of these inscriptions dishonor the memory of Samuel Paty and all the victims of Islamism by considering that all Muslims are guilty
".
"
Faced with this intolerable act, we must remain united, calm and determined
", continues the councilor in a press release.
The Pantin mosque has been closed for ten days.
A closure ordered by the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin and validated Tuesday by the administrative court of Montreuil.
The authorities accuse the mosque of having shared, on October 9 on its Facebook page, a video showing the father of a student of a college in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine (Yvelines) indignant after a course on freedom of expression provided by Samuel Paty.
In the south of the Drôme, it is a prayer room of the Muslim community in Donzère (5500 inhabitants) which has been tagged with "
a few
Christian
crosses
", the prefecture said.
Those in charge of the room noted the registrations on Friday, warned the gendarmes and a complaint for "
degradation
" was filed.
An investigation is underway.
"
Patrols around all religious buildings have been stepped up, particularly since the Nice attack
," the same source added.
