The identity of Abdalmasih H., the suspect in the Annecy attack which injured six people including four children on June 8, continues to be the subject of numerous theories on social networks. While the available information concerning him (him and his entourage) designates him as a Christian from Syria, having first obtained refuge in Sweden for almost ten years, certain influential Internet users, such as that of the far-right political party Britain First , the French-speaking media pro Trump @Trump_fact_news or the Dutch far-right influencer Eva Vlaardingerbroek, claim that he is not Christian but Muslim. According to them, the man was named Selwan Majd.
The Islamophobic site Riposte laïque at the origin of the rumor in France
In France, this rumor was notably shared by the Islamophobic site Riposte laïque, in a publication of June 12 which affirms that “the assailant is said to be a Syrian refugee named Selwan Majd” and cite as source “what circulates on behalf of Syrians living in France and in Germany and who would have recognized the madman of Allah. And this would be confirmed by relatives of Father Boulad in Alexandria”, a priest, who died in recent days, known for his claimed Islamophobia. The French-speaking site is now cited by other international sites, the one that would have revealed the supposed deception.
In addition to providing no evidence to support its information, the text of Riposte laïque contains manifest errors. The site writes in particular that the assailant “had traveled to Turkey with false papers where he met a Swedish tourist and made her believe that he was a Muslim convert to Christianity”. This story is false. When Abdalmasih H. meets his wife in Turkey, she does not yet have Swedish nationality, as she is also from Syria. According to the Swedish Migration Board, she obtained Swedish citizenship in 2021. In an interview with Pointthe assailant’s ex-wife says she met him “in a monastery in Turkey, where Syrian Christians took refuge at the start of the war”.
Riposte Laïque also claims that the man got married “under the false Christian name, but the Swedish authorities doubted him and refused to grant him citizenship, later his wife separated from him”. This version of the story, suggesting that the refusal is linked to doubts about the real identity of Abdalmasih H, is also false. Although the Swedish authorities have confirmed to CheckNews that the man made three applications for naturalization (two were refused and the last was being examined), the refusals are not motivated by a false identity.
Abdalmasih H’s mother told AFP that her son did not have Swedish nationality because of his participation in the Syrian Army. The decisions of the Swedish authorities, revealed by the world and which CheckNews got copy, confirm this point. In its judgment of July 29, 2022, the Malmö Administrative Court notes that the man was a member of the Syrian army during his military service from June 2011 to December 2012, that he served as a sergeant and that he participated in raids. In its judgment, the court “considers that he has been active in the Syrian army in such a way that he should not be granted Swedish citizenship until a considerable period of time has elapsed since he left the organization”. Regarding his separation from his ex-wife, his family told CheckNews that it took place after his surprise departure for France. His ex-wife and relatives, found by point and the DailyMail, indicate that Abdalmasih witnessed the massacre of his unit by Islamist groups during his military service, which would have severely traumatized him. His ex-wife describes a behavior that was already depressive in Sweden and which evolved into schizophrenia after his departure for Switzerland and France.
Not sparing in contradiction, Riposte laïque also published another article wondering if it was not the wife of the assailant who was in fact Muslim. “If she is, the abuser, if he is a Christian, had to convert to Islam in order to marry her,” tries the Islamophobic site, which can not decide between the idea that it is a Muslim who pretends to be a Christian or a Christian converted to Islam. As we have already explained, we have been able to consult many images posted on social networks which show his in-laws celebrating Christian religious holidays.
Moreover, and above all, journalists had access to the family of the suspect. So the weekly point contacted several relatives in Syria and Sweden reports that Abdalmasih H. “is the descendant of a large Syrian family from Fairuzah, a small town of Orthodox Christians of 10,000 inhabitants in the region of Homs”. Near CheckNews, the author of the article confirms that the assailant comes from a Christian family and that his father and mother have the same name as him. Defeating the theories according to which the man would have invented a name in order to hide his true identity.
Where does the intox come from?
If Riposte laïque has allowed this rumor to gain visibility, the French site is not at the origin. On Twitter, as of June 11, the @Scylla01Scylla account is the first to post messages claiming that “His real name is Salwan Majd, a Syrian Muslim disguised as a Christian!” Joined by CheckNews, our interlocutor introduces himself as a Syrian exiled in Sweden and explains that he discovered this information “in a live on TikTok” in which participated “a group of Christians and a guy named Salwan Momika who gave the info first”. Salwan Momika is an Iraqi Christian refugee in Sweden, who became known for wanting to burn the Koran in front of the Iraqi embassy. Contacted by CheckNews, he did not respond.
By following the trail of videos on TikTok, CheckNews found a publication dated June 10, two days after the attack, in which the account @outofthebox111, who presents himself as an Iraqi journalist who had taken refuge in the Netherlands, claims that the assailant is called Salwan Majd and is believed to be Muslim. At no time does the man explain how he obtained the new identity of the author of the stab wounds. Similar texts were shared on Facebook by the community of Eastern Christians, denying the involvement of one of their own in the Annecy attack.
We find in his video of more than six minutes, the same elements as those cited by Riposte laïque. According to this Christian from Iraq, the author of the stab wounds was “a Daesh terrorist”, A “member of the takfiri groups who were in Syria during the campaign that took place in the governorate of Hassaké between the Syrian army, the takfiri groups and the Kurdish forces”, which runs from 2012 to 2013.
He assures that the man arrived in Turkey in 2013 with the objective of joining Europe. Realizing that the EU granted the right of asylum to persecuted minorities in the Middle East, he then decided to pass himself off as a Christian. And the man to unfold the factual errors taken up later: “But fate would have it that he met a Swedish tourist in Turkey and made her believe that he was a persecuted Christian or that he had converted to Christianity, but had been persecuted by groups Islamists in Syria. Of course, this girl, out of naivety, decided to help him, and she actually prepared an invitation for him and brought him to Sweden and married him,” tells the Iraqi refugee, who calls on the community of Eastern Christians to contact the Western intelligence services so that they follow his track.
Note that the conservative and Christian Canadian information site Life Site News has relayed a similar theory in English, which also presents Abdalmasih H. as a Muslim. He cites as a source Yako Elish, a Franco-Iraqi Christian and co-founder of the Association for Mutual Aid to Minorities in the East. The site does not provide the slightest evidence that the perpetrator of the attack is Muslim.
Indicted for “assassination attempts”, Abdalmasih H. was transferred from the penitentiary center of Aiton, in Savoy, to the psychiatric hospital of Vinatier in Bron, near Lyon. He is cared for in a specially equipped hospital unit, intended to accommodate detained patients.
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