Three men suspected of ‘psychological violence’ at Eiffel Tower
Three people were released from custody Monday pending further investigation after they allegedly placed five coffins at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
PARIS — Three people were released from custody Monday pending further investigation after they allegedly placed five coffins at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, a Paris landmark that will feature prominently in the upcoming Olympic Games.
According to officials at the Paris prosecutor’s office, the three — citizens of Bulgaria, Germany and Ukraine — placed the coffins, covered with a French flag that included an inscription reading “French soldiers of Ukraine,” near the Eiffel Tower on Saturday.
The motive for the incident was unclear. France is on its highest alert level ahead of the July 26-Aug. 11 Summer Games in Paris and the lavish open-air ceremony on the River Seine.
On Monday, the three men were questioned by an investigative judge. The prosecutor’s office asked that they be charged with premeditated violence, the officials told the Associated Press. Placing coffins at the foot of the Paris landmark that millions of tourists visit every year “is considered an act of psychological violence,” and caused employees of the landmark and others “an inability to work,” the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of a pending investigation.
The investigating judge didn’t file charges, however, but named the three as assisted witnesses, a special status under French law, the prosecutor’s office said. They will remain free pending further investigation.
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