The French police have opened an investigation into at least nine pigs’ heads that were found on Tuesday near the entrances of mosques in the Paris area, an act widely condemned by French religious leaders, politicians and top officials as anti-Muslim.
“Everything is being done to find the perpetrators of these despicable acts,” Laurent Nuñez, Paris’s police prefect, wrote on social media on Tuesday, announcing the discovery of the heads.
Later that day, Mr. Nuñez told reporters that the heads had been placed “simultaneously” by several people, and said he could not “help but draw parallels” to past incidents that had been proved to involve “foreign interference.” French officials have previously accused Russia of trying to worsen social tensions and division within France with various kinds of provocations, including antisemitic vandalism.
The pigs’ heads near mosques are seen as a direct affront to Islam. Eating pork is forbidden in Islam, and Muslims generally avoid any contact with pigs, which are considered unclean.
Prosecutors are investigating the episode on grounds of “public incitement to hatred and violence on grounds of religion,” Gérald Darmanin, the justice minister, wrote on X. Anne Hidalgo, the mayor of Paris, condemned the “racist acts” on social media.
The discovery comes at a time of heightened political tension in France. The government led by François Bayrou collapsed earlier this week, and on Wednesday protests raged as a new prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, took office. Dissatisfaction and worry about the country’s political direction and future are running high.
For French Muslims, the pigs’ heads were yet another expression of hostility toward them that has long gone under-addressed by the French state. Many of the estimated five million Muslims who live in France, a country of about 68 million, contend that they are seen as perpetual outsiders.
Chems-Eddine Hafiz, the rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, said in a statement on Tuesday that the heads had “desecrated” and “defiled” the mosques, targeting not only Muslims, but also the common ideal of people living together in harmony.
“The image is unbearable,” he added. “It hurts the faithful, but it hurts — above all — our very notion of a fraternal France.”
Aurelien Breeden contributed reporting.
Amelia Nierenberg is a Times reporter covering international news from London.
The post French Police Investigate Pigs’ Heads Found Near Paris-Area Mosques appeared first on New York Times.
