LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND – Around 400 people participated in a memorial march in Lausanne 7 August in response to the brutal murder of a 32-year-old father of two, who was killed over the weekend by a 19-year-old youth he reportedly didn’t know.
Lausanne police have arrested three people in connection with the fatal stabbing of the Cape Verde man who was repeatedly knifed near the heart.
A 19-year-old Swiss man has been identified as the one who fatally stabbed the man. A 22-year-old Iraqi and a 23-year-old Spaniard were also arrested in connection with the homicide.
Swiss newspaper 24Heures says the main suspect, a “Swiss of Balkan background,” stabbed the man, acting under the influence of drugs and alcohol, after the victim asked the group for a light, a version that has not been confirmed by authorities. Lausanne police say a request for a lighter was made, but it’s not clear if this triggered the violence. The newspaper raises the question of a racially motivated crime, information also not confirmed by the public prosecutor.
The incident occurred at around 05:00 on 4 August at Place de l’Europe in Lausanne, an area at the centre of the city’s nightlife.
