France Left-wing extremist apparently planned new act of sabotage against SNCF

The French authorities seem to have prevented another act of sabotage against the country's rail network at the weekend. They arrested a left-wing extremist. However, the arrest is apparently not connected to the arson attacks on Friday.

Police sources said on Monday that the suspect had keys to technical equipment belonging to the French state railroads SNCF, cutting pliers and left-wing extremist writings in his car. The man had already been arrested on Sunday in Oissel near Rouen in northern France. He is in police custody.

The responsible public prosecutor's office confirmed the information a little later. However, no arrests have yet been made in connection with the arson attacks,

The arrested man's actions were "typical of left-wing extremists", Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin told France 2 on Monday. According to him, a total of almost 50 arrests had been made for planned disruptive actions against the Olympic Games. The suspects had wanted to carry out "acts of sabotage or radical protests" during the first Olympic competitions. This was prevented.

Members of environmental movement arrested

The newspaper "Le Parisien" reported that 45 members of the radical environmental movement Extinction Rebellion had been arrested. They had wanted to protest against the social and ecological consequences of the Olympics with the planned actions.

On Friday night, unknown persons had carried out arson attacks on strategically important parts of the French high-speed train network. As a result, rail traffic in France was severely disrupted shortly before the opening of the Olympic Games on Friday evening. Hundreds of thousands of people were affected. Trains are now running normally again.

SDA