The president of the republic thanked this Saturday for the “example of courage and citizenship” of the Portuguese citizen who on Thursday helped prevent an attacker from fleeing police at the playground in Annecy, in the French Alps.
“On this day, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa thanks for Portugal, Camões and the Portuguese communities the example of courage and citizenship of our compatriot Manuel da Ponte, who risked his life to prevent the barbaric attack on children in the city of Annecy , in France,” reads a note published on the official website of the presidency of the republic on the Internet.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa adds that he is monitoring the clinical situation of the Portuguese, “whom he wishes a speedy recovery”.
On Thursday, an assailant with a knife injured six people – including four young children – in a park in the French Alps town of Annecy and was arrested after the attack, the French interior ministry said.
In a note released Friday, Portugal’s foreign ministry said the Portuguese citizen was seriously injured but is now out of danger.
“During the tragic event, a Portuguese national, who was trying to prevent the attacker from fleeing the police, was seriously injured and is now out of danger,” the note referred to, adding that it is due, “by the act of courage and bravery, a word of deep gratitude”.
The motives of the attacker, a 31-year-old Syrian refugee, remain unclear and the attack has no “clear terrorist motive”, according to the French prosecutor’s office.
The attacker, Abdelmasih H., is in police custody.
In some videos circulating the internet, the attacker can be heard screaming “in the name of Jesus Christ” as he carries out the attack.
The attacker was carrying a crucifix and among his belongings was a prayer book. He declared himself a Christian when he applied for asylum.
Ten years ago he obtained refugee status in Sweden, where he married and had a child with a woman he divorced last year.
He has been in France since the end of 2022, where he has applied for asylum, but has no fixed address.
The answer to the asylum application, which was negative, reached him last Sunday, a few days before the attack in Annecy Park, as the French authorities emphasized.
Source: DN
