Overview

• The Lyon prosecutor’s office was removed from the case, with the Paris anti-terrorism division taking over as announced on October 13 by both jurisdictions.
• Investigators extended the judicial inquiry on October 9 to suspected assassination tied to a terrorist enterprise and criminal terrorist conspiracy.
• Italian authorities arrested a 28-year-old Algerian in early October in connection with the case, and he remains in Italy at this stage.
• The victim, 45-year-old Ashur Sarnaya, an Iraqi Christian who used a wheelchair, was stabbed in the neck on September 10 in Lyon while livestreaming religious content.
• This is the third murder in 2025 handled by France’s anti-terror justice system, following cases in Mulhouse in February and Puget-sur-Argens in May.