Around 300 people, according to the prefecture, gathered in Metz on Saturday to protest against the damage to a Turkish mosque, targeted overnight from Thursday to Friday by incendiary bottles of the Molotov cocktail type.
An investigation was entrusted to the departmental security, indicated to AFP the public prosecutor of Metz, Yves Badorc, adding that, “at this stage (…), no lead is privileged”. “I condemn this act of Islamophobia in the strongest terms,” reacted the mayor of Metz, LR François Grosdidier, on Twitter.
Some 300 people, according to the prefecture, responded to his call “for a rally of support” Saturday at 12 p.m. on the Place d’Armes in the Moselle city, between the cathedral and the town hall. The demonstrators were gathered behind a banner proclaiming “Metz, city of tolerance”, according to images posted on social networks.
“This is the first time that we have had an attack on a place of worship in Metz (…) We had never passed on this desire to destroy. It is an extremely serious fact”, affirmed the city councilor on France Blue Lorraine North.
A complaint has been filed
The damage was noted on Friday “around 5:30 a.m. by the faithful who came to the (Friday) morning prayer”, said AFP Ridvan Kilinc, the secretary of the association which manages the worship and cultural center which houses the Merkez mosque. Camii, from the DITIB federation, a Turkish community organization.
A complaint has been filed, he said. Three incendiary bottles of the “Molotov cocktail” type had been placed in front of the facade but only two were lit, according to Ridvan Kilinc, who added that the center had “never” been the subject of such an attack.
The flames have slightly blackened the facade in places, said Mr. Kilinc. According to him, a bottle had been installed near an electrical system with, obviously, the intention of damaging it. The perpetrator(s) also visibly tried, in vain, to throw a Molotov cocktail into the mosque to set the interior on fire, he said, adding that his two imams “are staying above” the religious building.
“Everyone is amazed,” added Mr. Kilinc, calling for “union”, the “keyword of the demonstration” Saturday in Metz. In a press release, the Regional Council of Muslim Worship (CRCM) of Lorraine strongly condemned this Islamophobic act. he added.