Since five years, Arthur* has been receiving anti-Semitic insults and death threats from an old “friend” who recently stabbed him in the street in front of his wife.
Arthur* and Manuel S., both 35 years old, grew up in the same village in Alsace. From nursery school to high school, their friendship has endured over the years. “We’ve known each other since the first year of nursery school. We grew up together, we were in the same group of friends,” recalls Arthur.
About ten years ago, Manuel moved to Paris, where Arthur was already living. “I was going on a trip. He didn’t have an apartment so I let him stay in mine. He didn’t know many people so I introduced him to my friends. We used to meet up often to go to restaurants, have drinks…” remembers the thirty-something. But over time, Manuel’s behavior changed. In the WhatsApp group chat with their friends, he became increasingly “unpleasant” and “aggressive.”
One day, a childhood friend arrives in Paris, where she is supposed to stay with Manuel as part of a training course. After a joke he deemed inappropriate, Manuel loses his temper and leaves his guest stranded. It is ultimately Arthur who hosts her. After this episode, the link between the two friends is broken. “It’s stupid to fall out over this. Don’t you want to talk about it?” Arthur tries several times by message. In vain.
Anti-Semitic insults and death threats
A few months later, in 2020, Manuel contacts Arthur again… to insult and threaten him with death by message, via different social networks…
