Overview

• On June 14, Joseph Akaravong was stabbed three times, including a cut to the neck, on Boulevard des Pyrénées in Pau.
• From four initial arrests on June 17, two suspects were released and two were charged on June 19, with one in pre-trial detention and the other under judicial supervision.
• Prosecutors opened a formal inquiry for attempted assassination and complicity but have not established any clear motive.
• The investigation is led by a judicial magistrate and the Pau prosecutor’s office has declined to release further details to protect the inquiry.
• Akaravong, granted asylum in France in 2022, had faced online threats after denouncing human rights abuses and corruption in Laos.