A Russian citizen was arrested on Tuesday in France on suspicion of preparing attacks during the Paris Olympicsthe Prosecutor’s Office reported. They also arrested an 18-year-old youth with possible terrorist links.
The individual, born in 1984, is being investigated for his possible involvement in the “organisation of events that could lead to” situations of “destabilization during the Olympic Games”a source from the prosecutor’s office told AFP on condition of anonymity, confirming a report in the newspaper Le Parisien.
He 40 year old man He was arrested by police officers General Directorate of Internal Security on Sunday after security forces carried out a search at his home in Paris, as reported by the aforementioned newspaper on Tuesday.
According to this source, the arrested man is suspected of having “passed intelligence information to a foreign power for the purpose of provoking hostilities in France”If proven guilty, he could be sentenced to up to 30 years in prison.
Separately, French anti-terrorist police PNAT told Reuters that An 18-year-old man had been arrested in the Gironde departmentin southwestern France, with plans to commit one or Several attacks against people. He did not mention any link to the Olympics.
With a strong security operation, Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games
The arrest of both suspects comes after several incidents that have occurred in recent months in France, such as the appearance of handprints in red paint on the Shoah Memorialin Paris, or the five coffins wrapped in the French flag that were left at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
The French capital is preparing to welcome the Olympic Games with an important security deployment that will include some 45,000 personnelThe sporting event will be held from this Wednesday until August 11, although the opening ceremony will be on Friday on the River Seine, an event that will have a “special security plan”.
More than 10,500 athletes representing 206 national Olympic committees will compete in the 16-day event, 100 years since the French capital last hosted it, with more than 45,000 security agents on duty.
For months, logistical issues and of security they planted of uncertainty its celebration on the Seine. “We decided to hold the ceremony (…) This is already a tremendous victory”said French President Emmanuel Macron to international journalists at the Elysée Palace, the seat of the presidency.
“At first it seemed crazy,” but it will be “unique” with “world-class artists, dancers and an orchestra” that “They will turn Paris into a huge open-air theatre,” he added, without giving further details.
Source: Ambito
