This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/24/world/europe/amedy-coulibaly-paris-attacks-burial.html
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Court Upholds France’s Move to Strip Citizenship of Man Jailed on Terror Charge | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
PARIS — France’s top court ruled on Friday that it was legal for the French government to strip a French-Moroccan man of his citizenship, reinforcing the country’s right to employ the antiterrorism tool as it tries to tighten its security after deadly terrorist attacks. | |
The ruling by the court, the Constitutional Council, involved Ahmed Sahnouni, a Moroccan man who became a French citizen in 2003 and held dual nationality. Mr. Sahnouni was stripped of citizenship last year by the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, after he was sentenced to seven years in prison for participating in “a criminal conspiracy with a terrorist undertaking.” He was expected to be released at the end of 2015. | |
This month, Mr. Sahnouni’s lawyer, Nurettin Meseci, challenged the law before the Constitutional Council, and argued that it does not treat equally those who are born in France and those who became citizens. He also said that stripping his citizenship would result in his client’s being expelled to Morocco, where he would face a 20-year jail sentence on similar charges. | |
Under French law, the authorities are authorized to strip French citizenship from a person who has dual nationalities if he has been convicted on charges of terrorism either before becoming a citizen, or within 15 years of becoming a citizen. According to Le Monde, authorities have stripped eight people of their citizenship since 1973. | |
The ruling bolsters France’s standing as it considers a measures to heighten security after the three-day onslaught in which 17 people were killed in and around Paris. One of the three attackers, Amedy Coulibaly, was buried early Friday in Thiais, a Paris suburb, police officials said. | |
Mr. Coulibaly, a 32-year-old French citizen of Malian descent, died in a police assault on a kosher supermarket on Jan. 9 after he took several hostages, killing four of them, and a day after he fatally shot a police officer in Montrouge, just south of Paris. | Mr. Coulibaly, a 32-year-old French citizen of Malian descent, died in a police assault on a kosher supermarket on Jan. 9 after he took several hostages, killing four of them, and a day after he fatally shot a police officer in Montrouge, just south of Paris. |
A police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said that state officials had buried Mr. Coulibaly on Friday in an area designated for Muslims in one of the city’s cemeteries. The site of the burial was kept secret for security reasons. | A police official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly, said that state officials had buried Mr. Coulibaly on Friday in an area designated for Muslims in one of the city’s cemeteries. The site of the burial was kept secret for security reasons. |
Mr. Coulibaly’s funeral took place after the two brothers who killed 12 people at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were buried last week in cities near Paris. | Mr. Coulibaly’s funeral took place after the two brothers who killed 12 people at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo were buried last week in cities near Paris. |
One of the brothers, Saïd Kouachi, was buried last Friday in Reims, where he settled several years ago. The body of Mr. Kouachi’s brother Chérif was placed in a Muslim plot on Saturday in Gennevilliers, a suburb north of Paris, at the request of his wife, Izzana Hamyd. | One of the brothers, Saïd Kouachi, was buried last Friday in Reims, where he settled several years ago. The body of Mr. Kouachi’s brother Chérif was placed in a Muslim plot on Saturday in Gennevilliers, a suburb north of Paris, at the request of his wife, Izzana Hamyd. |
It was not immediately clear why Mr. Coulibaly, who lived with his companion, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, in the nearby city of Fontenay-aux-Roses, was buried in Thiais. | It was not immediately clear why Mr. Coulibaly, who lived with his companion, Hayat Boumeddiene, 26, in the nearby city of Fontenay-aux-Roses, was buried in Thiais. |
A Muslim watchdog group said on Friday that tensions continue to run high in parts of France. The National Observatory Against Islamophobia, part of the French Council of the Muslim Faith, France’s main Muslim authority, cited a surge of anti-Muslim acts following the Paris attacks. | |
The group said that 128 anti-Muslim incidents had taken place over the last two weeks. These incidents included 33 acts and 95 threats against the Muslim community, compared to 78 threats in all of 2014. | |
In its statement, the group called on French politicians to “denounce these hideous acts” and “bring a reassuring support” to Muslim citizens. |
Previous version
1
Next version