The Rennes prosecutor’s office on Monday opened an investigation entrusted to the judicial police after a fire on Sunday evening which partly destroyed a mosque in the city and which did not cause any injuries.
“The causes of the fire have not yet been determined, analyzes and expertise will be carried out. In view of the sensitivity of the place concerned, the investigation was entrusted by the prosecution to the DTPJ (Territorial Directorate of the Judicial Police) of Rennes, ”said Rennes prosecutor Philippe Astruc. The investigation was opened for “destruction by fire”, he said.
Seals blocked the entrance to the door on Monday morning and a burning smell was still felt in the backyard of the building, a house overlooking a major thoroughfare in Rennes, on the edge of the popular district of Maurepas, found an AFP journalist. The windows of the house were also blown out. “Is it criminal? We cannot know exactly. There have been anti-Islam tags, but nothing alarming before,” said the mosque’s imam, Mouhammadou Dicko. At the time of the fire, “there was no one in the mosque. It is a busy place, with five prayers a day,” he added.
According to a witness interviewed by AFP, the fire took between 8 and 9 p.m. “We quickly saw a thick cloud of smoke, the firefighters and the police arrived quickly,” said this resident, whose apartment is located opposite the mosque and who prefers not to give her name. Several Muslim faithful, who came to pray, expressed their annoyance on Monday morning when they saw the damage caused by the fire.
In April 2021, in another district of Rennes, a Muslim cultural center had been covered with anti-Islam tags and the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin had visited the Breton capital.
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