- Three men from Bulgaria, Germany and Ukraine are under investigation for placing five coffins with the inscription “French soldiers of Ukraine” near the Eiffel Tower.
- The men faced “premeditated violence” charges and were sentenced to three years in prison and a $48,997 fine.
- France is on high alert ahead of the upcoming Paris Olympics, following a recent terrorism-related arrest targeting football match spectators.
Three men are under investigation in France on suspicion of committing “psychological violence” after they allegedly placed five coffins at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, a Paris landmark to be used during an upcoming rally, prosecutors said on Monday. occupies an important position in the Olympic Games.
The three men – citizens of Bulgaria, Germany and Ukraine – placed the coffin near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday, which was draped in a French flag and inscribed with the words “French soldiers in Ukraine”, according to officials at the Paris prosecutor’s office. words.
The three were questioned by an investigating judge on Monday. The prosecutor’s office asked them to be charged with “premeditated violence,” which carries a penalty of three years in prison and a $48,997 fine, officials told The Associated Press.
France files preliminary terrorism charges against teenager accused of planning attack on Olympic fans
They said placing the coffin at the foot of the Paris landmark visited by millions of tourists every year was “considered an act of psychological violence”. Officials said this left employees and others at the landmark “unable to work.”
Police patrol the Trocadéro Square near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on October 17, 2023. Under judicial investigation of the Eiffel Tower. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
The motive for the incident is unclear.
France is on the highest alert level ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris from July 26 to August 11 and the grand open-air ceremony on the Seine.
French authorities on Friday filed preliminary terrorism charges against an 18-year-old man accused of plotting to attack spectators at an Olympic football match in Paris. It was the first such conspiracy against the Olympics, which are due to start in eight weeks.
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Those arrested in the Eiffel Tower incident include the driver of the vehicle carrying the coffin, a 39-year-old Bulgarian, and two people associated with him – a 25-year-old German man and a 16-year-old The Ukrainian was arrested on a Paris-Berlin bound Flixbus bus, officials said.
The Olympic rings will be displayed on the Eiffel Tower. The Paris Olympic and Paralympic medals feature hexagonal iron fragments taken from the 95-foot-long, 49-foot-tall monument.
