A far-right inspired murder forces France to wrestle with what counts as terrorism
Hichem Miraoui, a 45-year-old Tunisian barber, was at home in the south of France late in May, chatting on the phone with his mother and sisters, when a neighbour drove past and shot him dead on his doorstep.
After killing Miraoui and shooting Kurdish neighbour Akif Badur in the hand, Christophe Belgembe posted four videos on Facebook, according to France's anti-terror prosecutor's office, known as PNAT. Bemoaning a state 'unable to protect us, unable to send them home', Belgembe said he had 'taken out two or three pieces of sh*t' and this was only the beginning.
Belgembe surrendered to police a few hours later and confessed his guilt, the PNAT said. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.
Belgembe denied any racist or terrorist motivation but the PNAT charged him with racially motivated, premeditated murder and attempted murder as part of a terrorist undertaking.
It was the first time the PNAT, which can take over any criminal investigation it believes meets the criteria for terrorism, has investigated a murder inspired by far-right ideas. Terrorism sentences are tougher, and counter-terrorism forces have greater investigative powers.
The PNAT's move is indicative of a broader shift in France, where jihadist attacks have fallen while racist, xenophobic or antireligious crimes are up 11% compared with last year amid growing support for the far-right.
In one of his post-attack videos, Belgembe expressed support for the far-right National Rally (RN), France's largest parliamentary party, according to a source who had seen the video but was not authorised to speak publicly about it.
RN spokesperson Laurent Jacobelli did not respond to a request for comment on the video. On X, RN chief Marine Le Pen said the PNAT's decision to probe Miraoui's killing would shed light on this 'heinous murder', which appeared to be 'racist'.
Each time there is a murder of this sort, it should be considered a terrorist act, as it is done to instil terror in our communities.
Azzedine Gaci, a Moslem cleric
Miraoui's family, Muslim leaders and antiracism groups welcomed the decision to investigate Belgembe under terrorism laws but said French authorities had been slow to view far-right crimes as terrorism.
'Even if it's late, it's welcome,' said Azzedine Gaci, a rector for a large mosque near Lyon. 'Each time there is a murder of this sort, it should be considered a terrorist act, as it is done to instil terror in our communities.'
The PNAT declined to comment on accusations it had been slow to classify far-right violence as terrorism. However, it told Reuters that it has taken on 15 other cases involving far-right suspects since its creation in 2019. None of them were homicides.
Jean-Louis Bruguiere, a former antiterrorism judge who helped create the PNAT, told Reuters that France's polarised politics 'pollute the debate' around how to classify such crimes. He said the PNAT preferred 'to exercise extreme caution' by only picking strong cases.
Thousands protested across France in April after the murder of Aboubakar Cisse, a 22-year-old Malian who was stabbed to death in a mosque by an intruder who insulted Islam as he filmed the act, calling for his killing to be probed as terrorism.
The PNAT declined to take Cisse's case. It also declined to investigate a 2022 shooting at a Kurdish centre in Paris in which three people died, sparking criticism from human rights activists and France's Kurdish community.
The PNAT declined to say why it did not take up Cisse's murder or the Kurdish centre attack.
However, Nimes Prosecutor Cecile Gensac, whose office took Cisse's case, said the PNAT declined to investigate as the killer had no ideology and only acted out of 'an obsessive desire to kill'.
In a 2023 PNAT decision seen by Reuters, it said that while the Kurdish centre attacker had a 'hatred of foreigners', he did not appear to be driven by any ideology and no evidence of far-right links was found at his home.
Bruguiere defended the PNAT's decision to investigate Miraoui's murder, saying that even if Belgembe had acted alone, he viewed his act within a larger ideological framework 'that transcends the act itself'.
Under French law, terrorism is a crime where the author has the 'goal of seriously disturbing public order through intimidation or terror'.
Olivier Cahn, a law professor at Cergy-Paris University, said some of the PNAT's previous decisions underlined how open to interpretation France's definition of terrorism is.
'Terrorism is not the act,' he said. 'Terrorism is whatever the PNAT says is terrorism.'
The PNAT did not respond to a request for comment on Cahn's remarks.
The PNAT investigated 66 cases of jihadist terrorism last year, down nearly a third compared with 2019.
Meanwhile, racism is rising, according to a 2024 report from France's human rights commission. There were 79 anti-Muslim acts recorded by the interior ministry between January and March, a 72% rise compared to the same period in 2024.
Belgembe and his victims lived in Puget-sur-Argens, a town in a southeastern region of France that has long been a stronghold of far-right support. In last year's legislative elections, the RN won nearly 60% of votes in the town.
Badur, the Kurdish neighbour who was shot in the hand, said his only conversation with Belgembe involved being asked about his nationality and residency status. An activist with the pro-Kurdish People's Democratic Party (HDP), Badur said he left Turkey two years ago for fear of imprisonment.
'I fled racism in my country, only to face racism here,' he said.
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