a man tried for the burning of four churches
The accused already has 25 entries on his criminal record. He is currently in pre-trial detention.
A 36-year-old man, with a long criminal record, is to be tried on Monday January 17 before the Boulogne-sur-Mer criminal court for the burning of four churches in Pas-de-Calais, report France Blue.
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According to a source close to the case at AFP, the defendant had been arrested “in the act“, when he caused a fire at the presbytery of the church of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul, in the town of Portel, last November. Nineteen firefighters were mobilized to put out the flames. The authorities very quickly made the connection with three other fires that affected churches in the same area in October and November. “Land prejudice [était] being evaluated”, underlined at the time the floor of Boulogne-sur-Mer. On his side, The voice of the North indicates that up to six churches were allegedly targeted, some by damage or arson attempts.
In police custody, the suspect had admitted the facts, explaining that he had acted “in the context of a resentment to meet the men of the Church”, but not “in a political process“. He had been remanded in custody pending a psychiatric assessment. The person concerned counts25 mentions” to his criminal record, in particular for acts of “flights” but also for “equivalent facts“.
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