French police are said to have ruled out an antisemitic motive after a 90-year-old Jewish man in Lyon was allegedly pushed to his death from an apartment block on Tuesday night.
A 51-year-old neighbour was arrested over the death of Rene Hadjaj.
According to JTA, prosecutors told a local newspaper, Le Progres the suspect had pushed Mr Hadjaj out of the residential building after an argument between them. While police investigated a possible antisemitic motive, they have since excluded it and said the dispute was unconnected to Mr Hadjaj’s Jewish identity.
Five years ago a retired Jewish doctor, Sarah Halimi, was attacked in her third-floor apartment and her body thrown from the window. Her killer, Kobili Traore, was heard to have called her a “Satan” and cried “Allah Akhbar” during his attack.
The authorities took their time before ruling it to be an antisemitic crime. But Traore was regarded as unfit to stand trial because he was under the influence of cannabis.
READ MORE: Sarah Halimi's killer to walk free
