When Paris receives a request from a foreign country for the return of human remains held in France's public museum collections, such demands can be granted under recent legislation. But the French state argues that there is a legal vacuum when such claims instead come from French overseas territories such as French Guiana on the South American mainland and Réunion in the Indian Ocean, both of which are governed from Paris. Julien Sartre reports on attempts to change the law to allow remains held by metropolitan museums to be returned to these distant French territories.
For more than twenty years residents living near a steel plant operated by ArcelorMittal at Fos-sur-Mer on France's Mediterranean coast have been campaigning against the pollution it has been spewing out. According to Mediapart's information, and later confirmed by local prosecutors in nearby Marseille, the multinational steel giant ArcelorMittal – run by Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal - has now been placed under formal investigation over the pollution. The criminal probe centres on claims that the steel plant has exposed residents to illegal emissions and put their lives in danger. The company says it denies the accusations. Pascale Pascariello reports.
While mention of the word torture was banned from official language at the time, the French military in Algeria encouraged the use of torture during the 1954-1962 war of independence, and with the consent of the government in Paris. Historian Fabrice Riceputi, an associate researcher with the Institut d’histoire du temps présent (IHTP), specialised in the events of the independence war, details here how, after the military experimented with torture and forced disappearances during the 1957 Battle of Algiers, French generals recommended a generalisation of the practice.
A criminal investigation into events at the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram private school in south-west France is continuing. Meanwhile Mediapart can reveal that sixteen victims of sexual violence committed by religious figures at the Catholic institution have already been compensated over allegations that are now time-barred under the criminal law. There are also discussions taking place about whether and how this approach of acknowledging abuse and paying compensation can also be extended to victims of laypeople connected to the school. At the same time, prime minister François Bayrou continues to insist that he was never informed about abuse at the institution, which is in his political fiefdom. David Perrotin and Antton Rouget report.
Jim P., a French citizen employed as a butler, was given a suspended 18-month prison sentence by a French court on Friday for stealing from his former employer Sergei Pugachev, a former Russian oligarch turned critic of Vladimir Putin. In reality, Jim P. had been spying on his boss with the help of a London-based private intelligence-gathering company called Diligence who were themselves apparently working on behalf of a Russian state organisation. Gabrielle Leroyer reports on this intriguing saga.
The trial opened in Paris on Monday of five jihadists accused of the kidnapping and detention of four French journalists in Syria in 2013 and the perpetration of “acts of torture and barbarity” at a hospital in Aleppo taken over by Islamic State of Iraq and Levant group. Relatives of British aid worker David Haines, who was held alongside the French hostages before he was later decapitated, are present at the month-long trial as civil parties to the case, as is also his Italian colleague and fellow captive Federico Motka. Matthieu Suc reports on the background of the case and the evidence that emerged from almost ten years of investigations.
French Prime Minister François Bayrou faced more questions in parliament on Wednesday over Mediapart’s revelations that he failed to intervene in a scandal of violence and sexual assaults against pupils of a Catholic secondary school in his political fiefdom in south-west France, despite being made aware of the events. He told parliament that he was “never” informed of the attacks. Mediapart can reveal documents and first-hand accounts that indicate the contrary. David Perrotin and Antton Rouget report.
It is thought that, on average, a child dies at the hands of their parents every five days in France. But this is just an estimate as no detailed and centralised record is kept of the number of children killed in this way each year. In an investigation Mediapart has examined the deaths of 46 young children who met a violent end within their family in 2024. Often these killings are treated as isolated “cases”. But the sheer number of such deaths shows the extent to which fatal violence against young children is systemic in the country. “Infanticide is the tip of the iceberg of the particular violence inflicted on children in a society where adults dominate them in countless ways,” says one campaigner. Mathilde Mathieu reports.
An attempt to exploit the impact of Operation 'Red Hands' – the painting of hand symbols on the Holocaust memorial in Paris in May 2024 - was made via a network of several thousand fake accounts on X. French analysts found that all these online bots - plus a curious French media outlet which tried to stir up controversy - were ultimately controlled by the Kremlin. Matthieu Suc reports in this third and concluding part of a Mediapart investigation into how France foiled a Russian destabilisation plot.
The team responsible for the red handprints that were painted on the Holocaust memorial in Paris in 2024 also planned the propaganda stunt that involved coffins being placed in front of the Eiffel Tower. The men arrested by the French authorities over these incidents claim to be working in the service of peace, but are in fact mainly known for their connections to Russian spies. Some clearly also have neo-Nazi sympathies. Matthieu Suc reports in this second part of a Mediapart investigation into how France foiled a Russian destabilisation plot.
