Suspicions of “foreign interference” after the invention of coffins on the foot of the Eiffel Tower | EUROtoday

Published on : 03/06/2024 – 09:07Modified : 06/03/2024 – 3:50 p.m.

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The three males suspected of getting positioned coffins on Saturday on the foot of the Eiffel Tower have been offered on Monday June 3 to an investigating decide with a view to their indictment. One of them had a hyperlink with a protagonist in a earlier case of overseas interference, that of the “red hands” sprayed in May on the Shoah memorial.

The prosecutor's workplace requested the indictment of the three suspects for “premeditated violence”, mentioned the Paris prosecutor's workplace.

The three males are the motive force of the car which transported the coffins, of Bulgarian nationality and aged 38, and two different males, one aged 25, born in Germany, the opposite, aged 17, born in Ukraine , mentioned the prosecution.

Around 9 a.m., Saturday, on the Quai Branly, these three folks positioned “five real-size coffins covered with a French flag, with the words 'French soldiers of Ukraine'”, a supply near the matter had indicated to the 'AFP. The coffins “contained plaster”, she added.

The driver of the van used to move the coffins was then “arrested near” the Eiffel Tower, in accordance with this supply. The driver informed the police that he had “been paid 40 euros to drop off the individuals and the cargo,” mentioned a police supply. He reportedly arrived from Bulgaria the evening earlier than.

The use of this man's telephone demonstrated a hyperlink with a person of Bulgarian nationality, who had been “identified” by investigators within the case of tags on the Shoah memorial in mid-May, mentioned a police supply.

Two different folks have been then arrested round 4 p.m. on the Bercy bus station, as they have been making ready to “take a bus to Berlin,” these sources added.

Investigation “to determine possible foreign interference”

The arrested are of Bulgarian, Ukrainian and German nationality, detailed the supply near the case, specifying that an investigation was “underway to determine possible foreign interference”.

Investigations are entrusted to Paris territorial safety.

This incident echoes two current circumstances the place the identical suspicions of overseas manipulation exist.

On the evening of May 13 to 14, crimson palms have been sprayed on the Holocaust memorial in Paris and the police suspect three folks having fled overseas.

Read additionallyStars of David spray-painted in Paris: How Russian propaganda exploits the Israel/Hamas battle

In October, after the beginning of the Israel-Hamas struggle, Stars of David have been sprayed on a number of constructing facades within the Paris area. The information, for which a Moldovan couple was arrested, have been attributed by the French authorities to the Russian safety providers (FSB).

In each circumstances, they’re “sponsors paid to destabilize and press on the divisions in French society”, estimated the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, in mid-May.

With AFP