Moroccan-Born Prosecutor Leads Investigation into Fatal Mosque Stabbing in France

He is France’s first prosecutor of Moroccan origin. Born in Morocco, Abdelkrim Grini grew up in Montpellier, in the working-class neighborhood of La Mosson, known as La Paillade. He held a residence permit for three and a half years before obtaining his naturalization at 19. "At 20, I either set fire to nightclubs that refused me entry, or I studied to learn the law and assert my rights," he confides to Radio France. Grini chose to pursue his law studies and became a lawyer at 25.

After a few years of practice, he left the bar for the judiciary. For the past fifteen years, he has been a deputy prosecutor in Bobigny, then prosecutor in Roanne. For a year now, he has been prosecutor in Alès. In this capacity, he took charge of the case of the atrocious murder of the Malian who was stabbed to death (57 stab wounds according to the autopsy) in a mosque in Gard. "It’s a good career path, isn’t it? I thought of him yesterday morning (Monday, Ed.) when I heard on a news channel commenting on this crime that multi-ethnic societies are multi-violent, that it’s necessarily a war of all against all."

Abdelkrim Grini continues: "And I thought of all the Muslims in France, because it was an ordinary day on this same news channel CNews which, according to its banners placed at the bottom of the screen and compiled by the Sleeping Giants collective, dealt with immigration last year for 328 days and Islam for 334. And not in a good way, believe me. 334 days out of 365!" In any case, the prosecutor of Moroccan origin says he is "proud to serve justice and deliver it, in the name of the French people."