Six far-right extremists tried in Paris for illegal arms trafficking
A Paris court has handed down sentences of up to seven years imprisonment against a group of six individuals linked to neo-Nazism for the acquisition and resale of weapons.
Six far-right extremists tried in Paris for illegal arms trafficking
A court in the French capital delivered its verdict on Friday, 3 June against six individuals linked to neo-Nazism involved in illegal arms trafficking. The criminal penalties range from several months to seven years imprisonment, according to AFP.
Five defendants, aged between 22 and 25, were found guilty of forming a criminal group with terrorist aims. The sixth defendant, a former police officer aged 61, was convicted only of the offence of arms trafficking. The investigation could not prove that he knew of the potential harmful use of the weapons he was supplying.
The group comprised two former soldiers. All were accused of having devised attack plans targeting Jewish, Muslim and LGBTQ+ communities as well as left-wing activists. The judge imposed the maximum sentence—seven years imprisonment with two-thirds mandatory minimum—on the youngest of the convicted, who proved particularly uncompromising during the hearing. From a mixed-race couple (Japanese mother, Moroccan father), he reiterated his opposition to racial mixing, whilst admitting he had abandoned "certain ideas" from the movement whilst retaining others.
The alleged organiser of the network, also a former soldier, received the same sentence of seven years but without a mandatory minimum period. During his childhood, he was reportedly exposed to Pétainism, antisemitic hatred and integralist Catholic traditionalism, according to his own statements. Prosecutor Marine Valentin nevertheless believed he had "evolved". The former police officer was sentenced to five years, of which 25 months are suspended with three years' probationary supervision. The three remaining members received sentences ranging from two years to three months imprisonment.
Source: franceinfo
Source: France Info