Lyon court sentences man to one year for Quran burning near Errahma mosque

A Lyon criminal court on Wednesday sentenced a 27-year-old man to one year in prison for burning a Quran outside the Errahma Mosque in Villeurbanne (Rhône). He was also banned from entering the city for two years. The defendant, who has been under psychiatric care since the age of 18, carried out the act during the night of June 1–2, just before the first morning prayer.

According to AFP, mosque officials filed a complaint after being alerted by a witness who extinguished the flames. The suspect was identified and arrested thanks to surveillance camera footage. Tried for «property damage motivated by race, ethnicity, nationality, or religion», he denied being an Islamophobe.

Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, the man has been under enhanced legal guardianship for two years. Despite this, prosecutor Hannah Tellier requested a 15-month prison sentence, citing a «major risk of recurrence», as the man has «already been convicted three times for threats, violence related to sexual orientation or gender identity, and theft».

The court president noted that the defendant had made «somewhat absurd xenophobic comments» during his appearance before the sentencing judge. Speaking to the press, Sefen Guez Guez, lawyer for the Errahma association and the Council of Mosques of the Rhône, welcomed the ruling.