PARIS: At least 20 people were arrested in police raids raids across France Monday after a series of attacks on prisons that scared staff and rattled the government, a source close to the case said.
The early morning arrests took place in the Paris region, Marseille in the south and in Lyon and Bordeaux, the source told AFP, with raids still going on.
President Emmanuel Macron had vowed the attackers would be “found, tried and punished” after days of incidents around French jails, with one sprayed with automatic gunfire.
“Thank you to magistrates and law enforcement for arresting the alleged perpetrators of the attacks against prison officers and our country’s prisons early this morning,” Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin said on X.
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, also congratulated the investigators, praising their “great professionalism” which “made it possible to achieve results in a very short time”.
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A calling itself the DDPF, claiming to defend the rights of French prisoners, has been targeting prison facilities and officers over the past two weeks, posting videos and threats on the encrypted messaging service Telegram.
While the modus operandi of some of the events bears the hallmarks of organised crime, a police source said, other actions were more reminiscent of the far left.
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