Bayonne Mosque Attack Case Closed Following Suspect’s Death

The investigating judge of the Pau Court of Appeal in charge of the case signed the dismissal order on Tuesday, the Bayonne prosecutor’s office told AFP. The Bayonne public prosecutor, Jérôme Bourrier, had issued a dismissal requisition in March for the extinction of public action. A dismissal justified by the death of Claude Sinké, the perpetrator of the Bayonne mosque attack. "Since the accused has died and the judicial investigation has not revealed any complicity, it is impossible to go any further," summarized the prosecutor.

Prosecuted for "attempted murder, aggravated damage and destruction, violence with a weapon against a public official and violence with a weapon," Claude Sinké, the alleged 84-year-old assailant, died in the Mont-de-Marsan prison in February 2020. He had attacked the Bayonne mosque on October 28, 2019. The toll is two injured - two 74 and 78-year-old worshippers. This former National Front candidate in departmental elections had failed in his attempt to set fire to the place of worship. During his hearing on October 29 on the motives for his attack on the mosque, he declared that he "wanted to avenge the destruction of Notre-Dame de Paris, claiming that the fire in this building was caused by members of the Muslim community."