French central banker attacked in Basel in June

Villeroy de Galhau at the 2022 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. © Keystone / Laurent Gillieron

The governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau, was attacked with a hammer at the end of June in Basel, Swiss media reported on Wednesday.

Contacted by the AFP news agency, the Bank of France confirmed an “isolated incident” but “without consequence”. It said Villeroy de Galhau is fine.

According to newspapers from the Tamedia group, including the Tribune de GenèveExternal link, the attack occurred on June 26 near the Basel-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS), of which Villeroy de Galhau is also president.

“Around 6:30pm, François Villeroy de Galhau was crossing the central square by the train station when a man approached him from behind and hit him on the head with a hammer,” wrote the Tribune de Genève. The paper stressed that it was not yet clear that the suspect had specifically targeted Villeroy de Galhau.

The Frenchman found himself on the ground but thanks to “the courageous intervention of passers-by, the police were able to arrest the suspect, a 39-year-old Swiss man”, the paper wrote.

The day after the attack the Basel public prosecutor indicated that an elderly man had been attacked with a hammer but did not reveal his identity.

Unclear motive

According to an intermediate decision by a cantonal court, a copy of which was obtained by the Tribune de Genève, the incident has “the characteristics of an attack” but could also have had a political or ideological motivation.

Three months later the Basel City public prosecutor is not prepared to give any further information about the case, invoking in particular the secrecy of the investigation, AFP writes. However, it confirmed it is investigating suspicions of attempted murder.

The court does not exclude the fact that the alleged perpetrator probably suffers from a “psychological illness”, the Tribune de Genève said, adding that during the interrogations, the suspect behaved in a strange way and seemed very distracted.