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French Authorities Thwart Neo-Nazi Plot to Attack Muslim and Jewish Sites
Wednesday 12 June 2019, by
A neo-Nazi cell has been dismantled by the French security services as it was planning attacks on Muslim and Jewish places of worship. The five members of the cell had prepared attack plans between September and last May.
Imbued with the neo-Nazi ideology, whose movement emerged after the end of the Second World War, the five members planned to carry out attacks on both Muslim and Jewish religious centers.
In September 2018, a first suspect was arrested in the Grenoble region for carrying weapons. The investigation conducted by the counterterrorism services led to the arrest of four other suspects.
The charges against them are very serious. In addition to the "transport, possession and manufacture of explosive devices in connection with a terrorist enterprise", they are also being prosecuted for "unauthorized possession of category A weapons" and "carrying category B weapons in connection with a terrorist enterprise".
The French police have dismantled at least 3 cells close to the far-right in the last two years. Even if their capacity for action seems limited, their resurgence is taken very seriously by the domestic intelligence services.
In 2017, 121 Islamophobic incidents were reported in France, and the government had decided to close 19 centers for the gathering of Muslims.