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yesterday

France Charges 47-Year-Old Moroccan With Desecrating Paris War Memorial

Ministers filed formal charges after he admitted lighting his cigarette on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier’s eternal flame, prompting moves to strip him of his residency permit.

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The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Place de l'Etoile, in Paris, on November 11, 2024, as part of the commemorations marking the 106th anniversary of the November 11, 1918, Armistice, ending World War I (WWI).
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Desecrating a war memorial in France can lead to fines or jail time under broader public order statutes.

Overview

  • The suspect was arrested in Paris under burial-site statutes after footage showed him using the memorial’s eternal flame to light a cigarette on August 4.
  • Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau confirmed that the man, identified as a 47-year-old Moroccan legal resident, admitted the act and remains in custody.
  • Veterans and Remembrance Minister Patricia Mirilles lodged an immediate case with Paris state prosecutors, denouncing the act as an insult to France’s war dead.
  • If convicted of violating laws against memorial desecration, the suspect faces up to a year in prison, a €15,000 fine and the loss of his French residency.
  • The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier beneath the Arc de Triomphe has burned continuously since 1923 to honor unidentified World War I soldiers and is guarded around the clock.