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Rabat – The Lyon Criminal Court sentenced a 27-year-old man on Wednesday for his involvement in the burning of a Quran in June outside a mosque in Villeurbanne.
The defendant took a Quran and burned it outside the Errahma mosque in Villeurbanne during the night of June 1-2.
A witness extinguished the flames and reported the incident to mosque officials the next day. A surveillance camera documented the Islamophobic act, which led to the arsonist’s quick arrest.
AFP said the defendant faced charges of “damage committed due to race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion.”
The defendant denied his involvement in the Islamophobic act, claiming he was a “victim of his illness.”
He claimed he is schizophrenic, which he has been treated for since the age of 18.
AFP quoted the defendant as saying: “ I understand that my act was very serious… To me, it was just a book–it wasn’t directed against Muslims.”
Prosecutor Hannah Tellier requested a prison sentence of 15 months in prison, noting that “there must be a response for a society that feels hurt” by the defendant’s “transgression,” whose judgment was “only impaired” at the time of the incident.
She also cited a “major risk of reoffending.”
The judge recalled that the suspect was already convicted three times for offenses, including threats, violence based on sexual orientation or gender identity, and theft, as well as some “absurd xenophobic remarks” made once before a sentencing judge.
The sentence included a two-year ban from appearing in Villeurbanne.
Many similar Islamophobic acts have stirred uproar across the world.
In recent months, France has been the theater of national marches against racism and Islamophobia. One of the recent heinous attacks took place earlier this year, when a man entered a mosque and stabbed a Muslim man around 40 to 50 times while he was praying.
He also insulted God, Islam, and Muslims while filming the horrific murder.
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