Paris Students Freed Under Supervision After Probe Into Alleged Explosive Tests

Overview

• The chambre de l'instruction of Paris ordered the eight students released under judicial supervision on August 12 despite prosecutors seeking pretrial detention.
• Investigators arrested the group after a Préfecture de police alert and coordinated raids on July 23 that followed intelligence suggesting planned actions linked to a Lyon–Turin demonstration.
• Searches recovered 21 mortars (fireworks), cable ties, rigged plastic bottles and dedicated phones, and investigators say tests of improvised pyrotechnic devices took place in tunnels of the Petite Ceinture.
• Prosecutors have placed the suspects under formal investigation (mis en examen) for association de malfaiteurs and organized possession and transport of incendiary products.
• One detainee said the group was treated like terrorists, a remark that underlines tensions over how authorities police radical protest networks and could influence security measures at future demonstrations.