French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Wednesday (24) that authorities have so far foiled four plans for violent actions against the Paris Olympics.
In an interview with the channel BFMTVDarmanin reported that the fourth case being investigated is that of an 18-year-old man, arrested this Tuesday (23) in the department of Gironde (with capital in Bordeaux) who had “a plan for violent action”.
The minister confirmed, on the other hand, that the arrest of a Russian citizen who was being monitored by the French secret services is explained because they believe that he “was going to organize destabilization operations”, “espionage”, perhaps “information manipulation”. He specified that this man had “recently” arrived in France.
He also attributed to a Russian destabilization operation the dissemination of a video circulating on social media calling for the assassination of Israeli athletes who will participate in the Olympic Games.
Precisely, the security of these 99 Israeli athletes is one of the major security challenges faced by his department, and he recalled that they will be permanently protected by two special law enforcement forces, the Police Raid and the Gendarmerie GIGN.
“The Israeli team is particularly protected,” but it is not the only one, he stressed, before mentioning that special attention will also be given to delegations such as those from the US, Iran, the Palestinians and Ukraine.
The minister indicated that today there will be a thousand police officers in the security team for the game between Mali and Israel, in Paris, for group C of men’s football.
During the opening ceremony, next Friday (26), which is expected to be attended by more than 300,000 people, and which for the first time will take place outside a stadium, specifically on the stretch of the Seine River that runs through the center of Paris, 45,000 police officers and gendarmes (a special corporation responsible for ensuring public order and security in the country) will be mobilized.
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