Relatives of the victims of Toulouse killer Mohammed Merah will seek to prevent the media from broadcasting recordings of the late French Muslim gunman.

Attorneys for the bereaved relatives said  they are seeking a gag order on the recordings after negotiations between Merah and French police were aired by the French television channel TF1 on June 8. Merah murdered three children and a rabbi at a Jewish school in Toulouse on March 19.

The conversations took place as police lay siege to Merah’s home in Toulouse. He was killed in a shootout on March 23.

“You are facing a man who does not fear death,” a masculine voice believed to belong to Merah is heard saying in the recordings. “I love death as much as you love life.”

Samia Maktouf, an attorney for one of the families, said the families’ main concern is that Merah’s words will inspire copycats. The umbrella organization of French Jewish communities, CRIF, expressed its “shock and outrage” at the airing of the recordings.

According to the French Jewish Protection Service, there were more than 90 anti-Semitic incidents in France in the 10 days following the school shooting. — jta