Paris riots (archive photo)
Photo: AFP
Paris: Jewish youths suspected of hate crime
Allegations say youths taunted truck driver of Mauritian origin before scuffle broke out
PARIS: Four Jewish youths who were arrested in Paris are suspected of a racially motivated crime against a truck driver originally from Mauritius. The incident occurred on Sunday in the Marais district, a major Jewish hub of Paris. According to a French police source the youths belong to the Jewish Defense League.
Witnesses say that one of the youths noticed the driver, who wears a mustache, and commented: "I thought they'd already killed Saddam Hussein." It remains unclear what the driver responded but the exchange of words continued and within several minutes a fight broke out. The driver was lightly wounded.
A street cleaner who worked with the driver alerted the police, who arrived quickly and broke up the brawl. One youth, a 19 year old boy was arrested. On Tuesday however he was released from custody and four of his friends were taken in for questioning.
A shopkeeper on Rue des Rosiers street, where the incident took place, said that the Jewish youths come in groups every week, frightening the clientele. In May of 2006 there was another incident in the neighborhood, when members of the 'Tribu KA' - a black anti-Semitic supremacist group – tried to entice the Jewish Defense League and Beitar.
