Judge finds man who stabbed Paris mayor "mentally unfit"

A French judge ruled Monday that the man who stabbed openly gay Paris mayor Bertrand Delanoe in 2002 was mentally unfit to stand trial and ordered him committed to a psychiatric facility, court sources said. If he had been found competent to stand trial, Azedine Berkane would have been charged with attempted murder in connection with the October 2002 knifing of Delanoe during an all-night cultural party in the French capital. The socialist mayor said last week that he would not appeal if the court ruled that his attacker was unable to stand trial, as prosecutors had recommended, saying, "I accept the judge's decision in advance." During police interrogation following the attack, Berkane said he hated politicians and homosexuals and felt he was being persecuted by a satanic sect. His lawyer portrayed him as an unbalanced loner prone to depression. Delanoe, who is one of France's few openly gay politicians, spent two weeks in the hospital recovering from stomach surgery after being stabbed while greeting the public at City Hall as part of the festivities.