Moroccan Taxi Driver Honored for Role in Capturing Strasbourg Terror Suspect

His name is on a list of more than 200 victims of terrorism who have received this distinction. During a tribute ceremony held on Thursday at the Hôtel national des Invalides in Paris and chaired by the French president, Mostafa Salhane, president of the association of victims of the Strasbourg attacks (AVA) and other representatives of victims’ associations exchanged with the French head of state on a number of issues related to victims of terrorist attacks in France.

For the Franco-Moroccan, this medal represents recognition and contributes to the psychological reconstruction process of the victims. During the meeting with President Macron, the discussions focused on the state’s support for these victims as well as the need for greater mobilization, particularly of civil society and associations working in this field, especially in schools, to raise awareness among young people of the danger of radicalization. The president of the association of victims of the Strasbourg attacks (AVA) presented to President Macron a project to create a European memorial dedicated to the victims of terrorism in Strasbourg. This building would be installed near the European institutions where the portraits and names of French victims of terrorism in France and abroad would be displayed.

On Tuesday, December 11, 2018, Mostafa Salhane had been taken hostage for about fifteen minutes in his taxi by the perpetrator of the attack on the Christmas market in Strasbourg. Thanks to the information provided to the investigators, a massacre was narrowly avoided and his kidnapper was apprehended.