A boar corpse left in front of an association premises housing a mosque in Saint-Usage in Côte-d’Or

Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau denounces an “intolerable anti-Muslim act”.

A boar corpse was discovered on Friday, November 1, shortly before midnight, in front of the premises of the Franco-Turkish cultural association of Saint-Usage (Côte-d’Or) within which there is a mosque, we learned Agence Radio France from a source in the gendarmerie. The Dijon prosecutor, Olivier Caracotch, confirmed to France Bleu Bourgogne the opening of an investigation for “public insult of a discriminatory nature”.

According to the Ministry of the Interior, the small wild boar was discovered in front of the premises of the Franco-Turkish association where the mosque is located. “The remains had a wound on the muzzle” and its discovery generated “a certain agitation” in the commune, which has calmed down “when the animal was removed”.

The representative of the association announced his desire to file a complaint “in the afternoon”indicates the ministry. According to information from France Bleu, video surveillance cameras show that the corpse was thrown from the window of a car.

Saturday November 2, the Minister of the Interior Bruno Retailleau reacted on “intolerable anti-Muslim act”also recalling the attempted fire at the Amiens Mosque on Tuesday October 29. He also expressed his “support, and that of the State, for the believers of these communities”. “Attacking places of worship is extremely cowardly and amounts to barbaric violence”added the minister.

Last night the Franco-Turkish association of Saint-Usage which houses a mosque was targeted by an intolerable anti-Muslim act, two days after the attempted fire of the Amiens Mosque, for which an investigation is underway. I want to express to believers these…

— Bruno Retailleau (@BrunoRetailleau) November 2, 2024

“The association is very active within the municipality and is perfectly integrated”explained Ali Ertugrul, deputy mayor of Saint-Usage, at the microphone of France Bleu Bourgogne. This is not the first time that this place of worship has been targeted, reports France Bleu. Last year, the premises had already been covered with anti-Muslim tags.

Public insult of a discriminatory nature committed against a private person is punishable by one year of imprisonment and a fine of €45,000. In December 2023, in Essonne, a wild boar corpse had already been hung on the gates of a mosque in Vigneux-sur-Seine. In March 2024, a boar’s head was placed near a mosque in Contrexéville (Vosges).