The meeting scheduled for Monday between the minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau and the family of Aboubakar Cissé, killed in a mosque in the Gard, was canceled due to a family impediment. A new date was proposed for May 23, 2025, while the Malian community called for clear recognition of the Islamophobic nature of the attack.
Essential
- Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau offered a new meeting to the family of Aboubakar Cissé and the High Council of Malians of France, after the cancellation of a meeting scheduled for Monday.
- According to the family spokesperson, no contact has yet been established directly between the minister and those close to the deceased.
- A mortuary prayer was organized on Monday at the Great Mosque in Paris in tribute to Aboubakar Cissé, before the repatriation of his body in Mali.
- The investigation for “aggravated murder” of a racist or religious nature continues, while votes rise to denounce an Islamophobic attack and claim a firm political condemnation.
The Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, proposed to receive the family of Aboubakar Cissé killed in a mosque in the Gard and representatives of the Malian community on May 23 after a meeting scheduled for Monday aborted, we learned from the entourage of the minister and the victim.
A new date proposed
“A new date has been proposed to the High Council of Malians of France and to all family members who will come to come”said the entourage of Mr. Retailleau who explains to exchange with one of the uncles of Aboubakar Cissé living in France.
“For the moment he (Bruno Retailleau, editor’s note) has not contacted the family. It seems that he is related to certain representatives of the Malian community but not with the family”AFP told AFP Aminata Konaté-Boune, spokesperson for the family of Aboubakar Cissé, present on Monday at the Great Mosque of Paris during a religious ceremony for the deceased.
A family side of the family
The vice-president of the High Council of Malians of France, Niakaté Djambéré Sega, told AFP that a delegation including family members and the Malian community had to meet the minister today, at their request but the appointment was shifted because of the impediment of a close to the victim.
-Before the burial, scheduled in Mali, the victim’s body was welcomed at 11 a.m. on Monday at the Grand Mosque in Paris in the presence of a large crowd of faithful and relatives of the victim. A mortuary prayer has been said by religious.
“We, Muslims in France, expect more than simple declarations. This crime is not a news item, it is an act of hatred, extreme violence, punctuated by anti-Islam invective […] It is an Islamophobic attack, a terrorist crime “, denounced the rector of the great mosque, Chems-Eddine Hafiz, during a speaking.
Waiting for a firm conviction
“Certain absences, hesitations, have left traces. When the word Islamophobic becomes the object of a sterile debate, we deny its real violence. […] We cannot fight a hatred that we refuse to name “he added.
“This drama should not become the ferment of an additional division. It must be a salutary shock, an awareness of the precious bond which unites us beyond our differences”he continued.
An investigation was opened and entrusted to an investigating judge for “Murder aggravated by premeditation and at the rate of race or religion”.
