French authorities, in their efforts to combat a week of bomb scares at airports, schools, and historic landmarks, have made an arrest of a 16-year-old pupil over a false bomb threat outside Paris, as per police sources on Friday.
Amid the heightened state of alert following the Hamas assault on Israel, the ensuing conflict in Gaza, and the recent fatal stabbing of a teacher in the northern city of Arras, the country has been dealing with a surge of empty bomb threats.
A teenager was apprehended on Thursday for allegedly being behind an emailed bomb threat in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, a town situated to the northwest of Paris.
Evacuation measures at the Jean Perrin high school, attended by the suspect, involved approximately 1,200 people, among whom were nearly a thousand pupils.
Following a thorough site examination, no explosives were discovered, and the precise motive behind the teenager’s actions remained unclear.
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Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin stated that 18 arrests have been made by authorities in relation to the false bomb threats that occurred on both Wednesday and Thursday.
The targeting of most of France’s major airports outside Paris caused evacuations, prolonged delays, and the cancellation of dozens of flights.
On Friday, it was revealed by Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti that 22 probes had been initiated in connection with the false alarms.
‘There will obviously be convictions, we cannot let this happen,’ Dupond-Moretti told broadcaster RTL.
He reiterated his pledge to crack down on ‘little jokers who have no sense of responsibility.’
‘The parents must be there and I remind you that it is the parents who will pay the financial consequences,’ added Dupond-Moretti.
The prescribed punishment for culprits includes a two-year prison term and a 30,000-euro ($31,700) fine.
Highlighting the seriousness of the issue, Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau cautioned that the penalty could become more stringent, emphasizing that such bomb threats would be considered a form of premeditated “psychological violence.”
Beccuau, in a discussion with French newspaper Le Parisien, highlighted that such an offense could entail a three-year prison sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros.