A three-year-old British girl who was stabbed to death in a French knife attack has been released from hospital within days, it has been revealed, as her alleged attacker has been charged with attempted murder and rebellion with a weapon.
Self-proclaimed Syrian Christian Abdelmasih Hanoun, 31, was heavily sedated as he was brought before two coroners at the Palais de Justice in Annecy on Saturday morning.
Three-year-old British girl Ettie Turner was among those injured in the attack. She is expected to be discharged from the hospital within a few days.
He did not speak during his behind-closed-doors appearance after being carried into a courtroom on a doctor’s chair.
“He was officially prosecuted for attempted murder and rebellion with a weapon,” Annecy prosecutor Line Bonnet-Mathis said.
“The suspect did not want to speak when brought before the judges. He will be taken into custody.”
Self-declared Syrian Christian Abdelmasih Hanoun, 31, was escorted from a secure police station in Annecy to the city’s Palais de Justice on Saturday morning
He was carried in a doctor’s chair after being shot by French police during his arrest
Abdelmasih Hanoun, 31, pictured, is accused of assaulting four children and two adults
Attempted murder carries a life sentence, in France 30 years, and rebellion with a weapon carries a five-year prison sentence.
Hanoun himself was injured by police after the attack when videotaped him saying the words “In the name of Jesus Christ” while repeatedly stabbing four children and two adults.
Among them were a three-year-old British girl, Ettie Turner, and three younger children and two adults.
All were “stable” on Saturday and recovering well, with Ettie doing well enough to watch TV.
Also targeted were two French cousins named Ennio and Alba, both two, and Peter, a 22-month-old Dutch boy.
The two adults who were attacked were Manuel, 70, and Yusuf, 78, who was also accidentally hit by a police bullet.
Memorabilia was left at the scene where the attack took place, including a balloon that read “Love of Children.”
Line Bonnet-Mathis, the Annecy prosecutor leading the investigation into the crimes, confirmed Hanoun “will appear before a judge on Saturday”.
Although Hanoun was a rejected asylum seeker facing deportation, he had to sleep late in Annecy.
A source who works on a sea pontoon on Lake Annecy said he saw Hanoun “every day” in the two months before the attack.
The source said: “He was dressed in all black – black backpack, dark glasses, bearded and wearing a headdress to protect himself from the sun – it could be a t-shirt, it wasn’t a religious sign.”
The divorced father of a three-year-old girl is a deserter from the Syrian army who was denied asylum in France six days ago and faced deportation.
Still, there were no immediate attempts to remove him from the country or to monitor his movements.
Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister, said this was a “disturbing coincidence”, adding: “For reasons that are not clearly explained, he had applied for asylum in Switzerland, Italy and France.”
Hanun came to Sweden ten years ago after serving in the army during the country’s ongoing civil war.
He married a Swede he met in Turkey and they had a daughter, who is now three years old, before the couple split about eight months ago.
Hanoun was twice denied Swedish citizenship, which presumably motivated him to move to France on his own.
The multiple knife attacks follow a series of similar crimes in France in 2015, most of which were linked to Islamist terrorism.
Ms Bonnet-Mathis says there is no link between Hanoun’s alleged crimes and terrorism.