"A French court on Friday sentenced four Bulgarians to between two and four years in prison for desecrating a Jewish memorial with red handprints last year, in what prosecutors think may have been foreign interference linked to Russia. The Paris Criminal Court handed down two-year sentences to Georgi Filipov and Kiril Milushev, described as the perpetrators, and four and three years respectively to Nikolay Ivanov and Mircho Angelov, considered the operation's "masterminds". Angelov is still at large."
"The trial was the first of its kind in France, one of a series of similar cases suspected of having been orchestrated by a foreign power with the aim to destabilise. The four defendants were not tried for acting on behalf of a foreign power: that aggravating circumstance was only added to France's criminal code after the incident took place. However, in their judgement, the judges said foreign interference was "indisputable" and aimed to "stir up public opinion, exploit existing divisions and further fragment French society"."
Four Bulgarians received prison sentences of two to four years and lifetime bans for desecrating a Jewish memorial with red handprints. Prosecutors suspect the vandalism may have been linked to foreign interference tied to Russia. Judges described the interference as indisputable and intended to stir up public opinion, exploit existing divisions and further fragment French society. The vandalism occurred amid heightened tensions over the October 2023 Israel-Hamas war and targeted a wall listing 3,900 people honoured for protecting Jews during the Nazi occupation. Investigators used security footage to identify suspects who fled to Belgium and Bulgaria; one alleged mastermind remains at large.
Read at The Local France
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]