France has charged* eight men, including three minors, following an investigation into far right activists allegedly plotting to target politicians and mosques, prosecutors announced on Saturday in Paris, reports The Guardian.
The men, aged between 17 and 29, are accused* of being party to a “criminal terrorist conspiracy”, and of links to Logan Alexandre Nisin, a militant who was arrested near Marseille in June.
Nisin is the founder of a group dubbed OAS. He was detained after posting that he planned to attack black people, jihadists, migrants and “scum”.
The 21-year-old had earlier come to the attention of French authorities as the administrator of a Facebook page glorifying neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik, who killed 77 people in a bomb and gun rampage in 2011 in Norway.
The prosecutor’s office in Paris said the group formed by Nisin “had plans to commit violent actions with vague outlines”.
Anti-terror police had arrested 10 people on Tuesday over the alleged plot, but two of them, including Nisin’s mother, were released, the Paris prosecutor’s office said.
Among the potential targets for attacks were places of worship, including mosques, politicians, “people of North African descent or black people” and “anti-fascist” activists, a source said.
*Editor's note: Under a change to the French legal system introduced in 1993, a magistrate can decide a suspect should be 'placed under investigation' (mise en examen), which is a status one step short of being charged (inculpé), if there is 'serious or concordant' evidence that they committed a crime. Some English-language media describe this status, peculiar to French criminal law, as that of being charged. In fact, it is only at the end of an investigation that a decision can be made to bring charges, in which case the accused is automatically sent for trial.