The Perpetrator Of The Stabbing At Nice Church Comes To France Illegally, What Is The Chronology?

Closure of road in front of Notre-Dame de Nice by French Police (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

JAKARTA - The perpetrator of the murder of three people at a church in the City of Nice, Brahim Aouissaoui, is suspected of coming to France illegally. What is the chronology?

Before entering France, Aouissaoui is known to have arrived in Italy at the end of September. There he was quarantined for COVID-19.

Lempedusa is an area of Italy close to off Tunisia which is the main landing point for migrants from Africa. Aouissaoui then arrived in France in early October.

Quoting The Guardian, Friday 30 October, French authorities said Aouissaoui had no identity documents when police shot and arrested her after the attack. But Aouissaoui brought a document that said he was from the Italian Red Cross. He didn't come to France to claim political asylum.

Prosecutors in Sicily confirmed that Aouissaoui arrived in Lampedusa on September 20, then spent 14 days on a quarantine ship before being transferred to Bari on October 9. The high number of arrivals from Tunisia meant that repatriation procedures from Italy were often delayed. In contrast, Tunisians are often given an "exit slip," requiring them to leave Italy within seven days.

Aouissaoui received such orders but, like many others, traveled illegally to France. The Sicilian prosecutors also confirmed that Aouissaoui did not have the documents and said that his photo released by the French police matched the one they had.

According to the judge, it is likely that Aouissaoui traveled to Lampedusa by small boat. The European Police (Europol) said in a report earlier this year that there was no sign of a terrorist organization's systematic use of "irregular migration".

However, the UN committee of experts said the arrest of nine Syrians, an Egyptian and a Turkmen in Cyprus in May 2020, all linked to groups affiliated with ISIS or Al-Qaeda, suggests that would-be terrorists can use illegal migration routes to reach Europe.

Stabbing and beheading

Aouissaoui armed with a knife shouted "Allahu Akbar" then beheaded a woman and killed two others at a church in the city of Nice, France. The attack coincided with the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad SAW.

One of the 44-year-old victims fled to a nearby cafe to sound the alarm before dying. The police then came and confronted Aouissaoui who was still shouting takbir. The police then shot him. Aouissaoui is now in hospital and in critical condition.

France, with the largest Muslim community in Europe, has experienced a series of attacks by Islamist militants in recent years, including the 2015 bombings and shootings in Paris that killed 130 people. In 2016 it took place in the city of Nice where a militant drove a truck through a crowd during Bastille Day celebrations. The incident killed 86 people.

A representative of the Muslim Council of France also condemned the stabbing at the Nice church. He asked all Muslims in France to cancel the celebration of the Prophet Muhammad's birthday as a sign of sorrow and solidarity.