Men released after suspicion of “psychological violence” at the Eiffel Tower – Firstpost

Three people were released Monday pending further investigation after allegedly placing five coffins at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, a Paris landmark that will feature prominently at the upcoming Olympic Games.

According to officials from the Paris prosecutor’s office, the three Bulgarian, German and Ukrainian nationals placed the coffins covered with a French flag bearing the inscription “French Soldiers of Ukraine” near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday.

The motive for the incident was unclear. France is at the highest alert level before the crisis from July 26 to August 26. 11 Summer Games in Paris and the sumptuous open-air ceremony on the Seine.

On Monday, the three men were heard by an investigating judge. The prosecutor’s office requested that they be charged with premeditated violence, the officials told The Associated Press. Placing coffins at the foot of the Paris monument that millions of tourists visit each year “is considered an act of psychological violence” and has caused monument employees and others “inability to work,” officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity due to an ongoing investigation.

The investigating judge, however, did not file a complaint, but designated the three men as assisted witnesses, a special status in French law, the prosecution indicated. They will remain free pending further investigation.

Among those arrested in the Eiffel Tower incident were the driver of the vehicle transporting the coffins, a 39-year-old Bulgarian, as well as two people associated with him: a 25-year-old German and a 16-year-old. Ukrainian, who was arrested on board a Flixbus bound for Paris-Berlin, authorities said.

French authorities on Friday brought preliminary terrorism charges against an 18-year-old accused of plotting to target spectators at Paris Olympics soccer matches. This is the first foiled plot targeting the Games, which begin in eight weeks.

The Olympic rings will be displayed on the Eiffel Tower. The Paris Olympic and Paralympic medals are encrusted with pieces of a hexagonal piece of iron taken from the monument.

The Eiffel Tower coffins emerged after other strange incidents in recent months that have worried French authorities.

Last month, graffiti showing red hands appeared on the Shoah Memorial in Paris. And in October, shortly after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, stencils representing blue Stars of David appeared on Parisian buildings.

French authorities have accused Russian security services of stirring up controversy around the stars. French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourne said both incidents involved people paid to destabilize and drive divisions in French society.