France: Afghan "Not Responsible" for Gouging out Victim's Eyes

He had his eyes gouged out in Paris: His attacker, diagnosed as schizophrenic, is found not responsible

On Tuesday, the judges in the investigative chamber ordered his placement in a psychiatric hospital. Isaac, a schizophrenic Afghan national, had been arrested in 2022 after having gouged out the eyes and stabbed a man seated on a park bench in the capital.

Julien Constant

March 5, 2025 at 07:03

Caption: Appellate court in  Paris, February 2025. In this courtroom, the arguments were held on the criminal responsibility of Isaac, in which the decision was rendered Wednesday.

More than two years after this terrible attack, Isaac was declared not responsible on Tuesday in the investigative chamber of Paris. The judges ordered his forced hospitalization. They also pronounced a prohibition of making contact with Nader, the victim, and a prohibition of carrying a weapon for 20 years. The 25-year-old Afghan had been charged for attempted murder several months after gouging out the eyes of a stranger who was seated on a park bench at Villemin Square in the 10th arrondissement of Paris.

On October 8, 2022, he attacked the man causing him terrible wounds to the eyes. Nader only survived by managing to escape. The suspect, in the middle of a schizophrenic crisis, was arrested a few minutes later. The man arrived in France in May 2022 via Germany. He was a cannabis user. He had no job or a home in the capital and had no previous criminal record.

Serious psychotic disorders

The psychiatric expert, Yon Liova, department head of the University of Paris Hospital Group, confirmed during the arguments that Isaac, “suffers from serious psychiatric disorders that were probably aggravated by the use of drugs”. The doctor concluded that the young man acted under the impulse of an “acute delusion of persecution and disorganization of his thoughts,” that took away his judgment. Therefore, he will be treated at the St Anne Hospital (14th arrondissement) to establish a protocol of care with lifelong treatment. The idea is to put in place, if possible, an outpatient solution. That is an ordinary life within society with permanent monitoring.