Frenchman Jailed for Murder after Hunting Arabs

05/02/2005| IslamWeb

A French court sentenced a man to 25 years in jail for murder on Friday after he killed a teenager simply because he was of North African origin during a drunken shooting spree which he likened to going hunting.

Joel Damman, 50, roamed the streets of Dunkirk in northern France looking for Arab-looking victims on Oct. 4, 2002. He said he had been a racist at the time but had since reformed.

 

"I just wanted to make them afraid at the start, then it was like going hunting," he told the court in Douai in northern France.

 

"Racism leads to hatred, hatred leads to death," prosecutor Patrick Tillie said.

 

Damman put on hunting clothes and climbed into his 4x4 car on the night of the shooting spree, covering the registration plates in the hope that he would not be identified.

 

He shot at a cafe popular with Arab immigrants without hitting anyone but wounded three people when he returned later and opened fire again.

About an hour later, Damman shot at a group of people in a bar in another part of Dunkirk, killing a 17-year-old called Mohammed.