Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/ PARIS: A dozen people with ties to a French far-right group are on trial Tuesday, accused of trying to assassinate President Emmanuel Macron and carry out a series of other attacks.
Trial of Far-right militants
The prosecution accused Les Barjols, a gang of 13 people, of plotting a putsch that included a 2018 attack on Macron at a public appearance. According to information gathered online, over the phone, and during meetings, the suspects also intended to kill immigrants and attack mosques. Throughout their four-year investigation, prosecutors reduced some initial accusations since none of the conspiracies allegedly planned by the 11 men and two women, ages 26 to 66. The remaining charge is one of conspiring to carry out a terrorist attack, which carries a possible 10-year prison sentence.
The accusation of a planned terrorist act was described as “misplaced” by the defence attorney for the defendant, Lucile Collot, who claimed the prosecution’s case was founded “on the illusion that a violent act was going to happen.” In 2018, France’s domestic intelligence services received information that a group of far-right militants based in the French Alps, Jean-Pierre Bouyer, planned to attack Macron during a World War I peace treaty centenary commemoration in November of that year.
On October 31, French anti-terror prosecutors started their investigation amid the backdrop of boiling social unrest in France over rising fuel costs, eventually leading to the Yellow Vest protest movement.
