The investigation opened after the fires of three churches which occurred in the 10th and 19th arrondissements of Paris in recent days is progressing.
This Wednesday, January 25, at the beginning of the afternoon, the agents of the 2nd district of the judicial police arrested a 47-year-old man.
According to our information, it would be a Ukrainian who was in a hotel rue du Château (Xe) during the intervention of the police.
“He was placed in police custody on the charge of degradation by dangerous means on account of religion, indicates the Paris prosecutor’s office.
He is suspected of having committed a fire in front of the Saint-Laurent church, in Paris (Xe), on the night of January 24 to 25.
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No link yet with the other three fires
For the time being, the four attempts to set fire to the churches of Notre-Dame-de-Fatima (19th century), targeted twice on January 17 and 22, Saint-Martin-des-Champs (10th) affected on January 18, then Saint-Laurent, targeted this Wednesday around 5 a.m., are not all linked to this same individual.
He is, for the moment, only suspected of having set fire to the front door of the last building, near the Gare de l'Est.
“These facts are very worrying, commented Emmanuel Grégoire, first deputy (PS) of Anne Hidalgo, this Wednesday, a few hours after the firefighters intervened to contain the flames on Boulevard de Magenta.
The repetition in a short time of these malicious acts is worrying.
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The elected official also mentioned reinforced means of prevention and surveillance near places of worship and in the geographical areas concerned: "We are initiating a systematic complaint and providing support for the investigation with the video protection network, neighborhood surveys and the organization of coordinated patrols between municipal police and national police.
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