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There is no reason to include him further in the investigation, the AFP news agency reported in reference to judicial circles. The man’s state of health is also incompatible with police custody.
The prosecutor has opened an investigation for attempted murder. Until now, the investigations have not been taken over by the French prosecutor’s anti-terrorist investigators. According to media reports, investigators are not ruling out a reference to terrorism, but political or religious motives seem increasingly unlikely, he said. Currently it is assumed that personal reasons could be the reason for the act.
The attack took place on Rue Saint-Lazare in Lyon, not far from a Greek Orthodox church. The priest is said to have closed the church around 4 pm at the time of the crime. According to initial findings, the assailant is said to have acted alone. The victim suffered serious abdominal injuries.
On Thursday alone, a man attacked several people with a knife in Nice, southern France, killing at least three. Investigators assume a terrorist background.
Two weeks ago, Paris history teacher Samuel Paty was allegedly beheaded by an 18-year-old from Chechnya, apparently because he had talked about a cartoon of Muhammad in class.
The new publication of Muhammad cartoons by the satirical newspaper “Charlie Hebdo” has heated up the mood against France in Muslim countries. In countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh, thousands of people took to the streets in anti-French protests. Eleven people were killed in an Islamist-motivated terror attack against the editorial team on January 7, 2015.
The French government expects more attacks and has thousands of soldiers deployed to schools and religious sites to protect citizens.
