As French authorities race to put an end to a week of bomb scares at airports, schools, and landmarks, a 16-year-old student was arrested for making a false bomb threat outside of Paris, police sources said on Friday.
Following the Hamas attack on Israel, the accompanying conflict in Gaza, and the tragic stabbing death of a teacher in the northern city of Arras last week, the nation has been on high alert due to a wave of false bomb threats.
A bomb threat via email led to the teenager’s arrest on Thursday in Saint-Ouen-l’Aumône, a town northwest of Paris.
Approximately 1,200 individuals, comprising approximately 1,000 students, were evacuated from the Jean Perrin high school where the suspect was enrolled.
An investigation of the scene revealed no explosives, and it was still unknown what the teenager’s precise motivation was.
According to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, 18 people were taken into custody on Wednesday and Thursday after making fictitious bomb threats.
Targeted were the majority of France’s main airports outside of Paris, resulting in numerous canceled flights, hours-long delays, and evacuations.
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On Friday, France’s Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti said that 22 probes had been launched 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.
Offenders risk two years in prison and a 30,000-euro ($31,700) fine.
Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau warned that the punishment could be even more severe, adding that such bomb threats will now be considered a form of premeditated “psychological violence.”
Speaking to French newspaper Le Parisien, Beccuau said that such an offense is punishable by three years in prison and a 45,000-euro fine.
“Minors will be brought before a juvenile judge,” added Beccuau.
AFP