A Tunisian national has been shot dead by his neighbour in southern France, a prosecutor says, adding the incident is being investigated as a racially-motivated crime.
The victim, who was said to be “possibly 35”, but has not been officially identified, was killed in the town of Puget-sur-Argens on Saturday night A 25-year-old Turkish national was also shot in the hand by the man and taken to hospital.
The shooting comes one month after the fatal stabbing of Aboubakar Cisse, a 22-year-old man from Mali, in a mosque in the southern town of La Grand-Combe, amid rising racism in France.
Last year French police recorded an 11 per cent rise in racist, xenophobic or anti-religious crimes, according to official data published in March.
In a statement, the prosecutor said the suspect was a 53-year-old who practises sports shooting.
He had published hateful and racist content on his social media account before and after killing his neighbour, the prosecutor added.
France has the largest Muslim population in Europe, numbering more than six million and making up about 10 per cent of its population.
Politicians across the political spectrum, including President Emmanuel Macron, have attacked what they describe as Islamist separatism in a way that rights groups have said stigmatises Muslims and amounts to discrimination.
https://thewest.com.au/politics/security/tunisian-national-shot-dead-by-neighbour-in-france-c-18898913
