A Moldovan couple arrested in Paris for allegedly scrawling Stars of David on a school building reportedly told investigators they acted on orders from “an individual in Russia.”
The 33-year-old man and 29-year-old woman were arrested last Friday after a witness reported seeing the pair marking “blue stars” on a wall in a bohemian area of the French capital, prosecutors said.
When questioned by police, the two “declared they had committed this offense at the behest of a third party,” namely “an individual from Russia,” French broadcaster Europe1 reported, citing an unnamed source.
No additional information on the identity of the alleged Russian mastermind was immediately available.
Moldovans were booked into administrative detention centers on initial charges of damage aggravated by the fact that it was done because of their origin or religion.
The couple, who have been living in France illegally, are likely to be deported to their home country if convicted.
The couple’s arrest came after about 60 blue Stars of Davis were painted on multiple buildings in Paris’ 14th and 15th arrondissements. The city prosecutor said that “the authors of some of the tags observed on Tuesday have not been identified.”
Dozens of blue Stars of David have been daubed on buildings in Paris.REUTERS The signs were spotted in the 10th, 14th and 15th arrondissements of the French capital. AFP via Getty Images Local and national condemnation of the “heinous” acts of vandalism aimed at France. Jewish population. Urman Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock
A criminal investigation has been launched into the graffiti, which Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo criticized as “vile.”
“Antisemitic tags found in Paris,” Hidalgo posted on social media this week. “Faced with this heinous act, we contacted the public prosecutor to identify, prosecute and sentence the perpetrators. Antisemitism has no place in our Republic.”
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne echoed the mayor’s words in a speech to the National Assembly, saying that she condemned “this despicable act with absolute vehemence.”
The prosecutor’s office, however, stopped short of labeling the graffiti antisemitic, saying in a statement that it had not yet been determined whether the vandalism was “for the purpose of insulting Jews, or demanding membership,” citing the star’s facts. was sprayed with blue instead of yellow — the color of the Jewish star that the Nazis forced European Jews to wear during World War II.
There have been 857 antisemitic incidents reported in France since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas. AP
Paris prosecutors are also looking into a chilling video that appeared on social media on Wednesday, showing a group of young people in the city’s metro chanting: “F–k the Jews and f–k your mother, live Palestine. We are Nazis and proud of it.”
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, there have been 857 antisemitic incidents reported in France that led to 425 arrests, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
