The suspect in the murder of 22-year-old Aboubakar Cissé, who was killed while praying in a mosque in southern France, has been extradited from Italy and returned to French custody on Friday.
Identified by French media as Olivier A., the 20-year-old French national was transferred from Florence to the courthouse in Nîmes, where he is expected to appear before the investigating magistrate to present his account of the events.
Authorities say Olivier A. fled after the brutal killing and spent three days on the run before surrendering to Italian police. He now faces potential charges of “murder aggravated by premeditation and motivated by race or religion,” as well as “evading arrest.”
Cissé, a Malian national, was stabbed multiple times during prayers at a mosque in La Grand-Combe, a former mining town in southern France. Shockingly, the suspect reportedly filmed the attack and shared the footage on Snapchat.
The murder has ignited controversy in France, with critics accusing the government of downplaying the racial and religious motives behind the attack and failing to label it a hate crime from the outset.
