Russia a suspect behind severed pig heads left outside mosques, says prosecutors | World | News
Prosecutors believe Russia may be behind the discovery of at least nine severed pigs heads placed in front of mosques. A criminal investigation was launched in France on Tuesday after the heads were found in the 20th and 15th arrondissements of Paris.
At least one had ‘Macron’ painted in blue on it, a reference to French leader Emmanuel Macron. The French capital’s public prosecutor’s office claims they were placed “by foreign nationals” driving a car with a Serbian number plate. They then “immediately left the country in a clear attempt to cause unrest within the nation,” according to the prosecutors. Horrified Muslim worshippers discovered the gruesome heads when they arrived for morning prayers on September 9. France has the largest population of Muslims in Europe, standing at more than six million. Officials have blamed the Russian intelligence services for stirring unrest in the country over the past two years.
In the latest stunt, a farmer in Normandy told investigators that two people had turned up to purchase a dozen pigs from him. He said their vehicle had Serbian number plates.
According to prosecutors, CCTV footage shows the same individuals and vehicle in Paris, near Oberkampf, during the night on Monday 8.
The two men were then seen leaving the horrific heads in front of numerous mosques in France’s capital.
A telephone line was also traced on Tuesday morning, after the act, which is thought to have crossed the French-Belgian border.
Laurent Nunez, the Paris police chief, said on the day of the discovery: “Early this morning, pig heads were discovered on the public road in front of the entrance to several mosques in the metropolitan area. An investigation was immediately opened. Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of these despicable acts.”
The event follows a sharp rise in Islamophobic across France. According to data from the Collective Against Islamophobia in Europe (CCIE), 1,037 Islamophobic incidents were documented in 2024, a 25% increase compared to 2023.
This is also not the first time dead pigs have been used in Islamophobic incidents in France.
In March 2024, on the eve of Ramadan, a pig’s head was discovered in front of a Turkish mosque in Saint-Omer, in the north of the country.
And in March 2019, walls were covered with pig blood on the construction site of the future Bergerac mosque, in the south west.
