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CRIME

French court jails man for 2020 cathedral arson attack

A French court on Wednesday handed a four-year jail term to an arsonist for starting a fire that severely damaged a Gothic cathedral in the city of Nantes in 2020.

Published: 30 March 2023 08:57 CEST
French court jails man for 2020 cathedral arson attack
Firefighters working on July 18, 2020 to put out the fire at the Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul cathedral in Nantes, western France. (Photo by Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS / AFP)

Emmanuel Abayisenga, a 42-year-old Rwandan, is also facing legal action for a separate incident in which he allegedly killed a priest in western France in 2021.

The court ruled that Abayisenga was not mentally sound at the time of the fire at the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paulwhen it handed down the sentence.

The court also banned Abayisenga from bearing weapons and staying in the western Loire-Atlantique region, where Nantes is located, for five years.

His lawyer, Meriem Abkoui, said her client’s answers in court occasionally “lacked coherence” and that his criminal responsibility was questionable.

She added that she was waiting for the results of psychiatric tests in the other legal proceedings against him, saying his trial for the priest murder could take place late next year.

Abayisenga, who arrived in France in 2012 and had been a volunteer for the local diocese, had admitted causing the blaze at the start of the hearing.

He said he had entered the cathedral to pray but then “lost control” after passing by a location in the building where he suffered a violent attack in 2018.

Speaking through an interpreter, he said he regretted what happened and asked for forgiveness.

Abayisenga has a history of unsuccessful asylum claims and received an order to leave France in 2019, which was said to have deeply troubled him.

The court acknowledged the defendant’s health issues, including hearing difficulties, incontinence, lung problems and eating disorders.

Prosecutor Veronique Wester-Ouisse said the defendant set fire to the cathedral knowingly due to “huge anger and a feeling of revenge linked to his administrative situation”.

Firefighters were able to contain the blaze quickly and save the main structure, but its famed 17th-century organ, which had survived the French revolution and bombardment during World War II, was destroyed.

Also lost were priceless artefacts, paintings and stained-glass windows that contained remnants of 16th-century glass.

The cathedral’s owners estimated the damage at more than €40 million.

The blaze in Nantes came 15 months after the devastating fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which raised questions about the security risks for other historic churches across France.

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SEXISM

French cities and schools shake off name of charity icon accused of abuse

Cities and villages across France are scrambling to rid themselves of plaques while schools are moving to change their names following a raft of posthumous sexual abuse accusations against a charity icon who was showered with accolades in his lifetime.

Published: 11 September 2024 17:28 CEST
French cities and schools shake off name of charity icon accused of abuse

Born Henri Groues, French clergyman Abbe Pierre left behind a legacy as a friend to the poverty-stricken and homeless when he died aged 94 in 2007.

“All of France wants its Abbe Pierre Street,” right-wing newspaper Figaro wrote after his death.

But since July, multiple allegations that he committed sexual abuse have shattered his saintly image and left the two charities he founded desperately trying to dissociate themselves from him.

The Abbe Pierre Foundation has said it will change its name and the Emmaus charity has announced the permanent closure of a memorial to the man who was a fervent defender of the right to housing.

Now local officials nationwide are seeking to cleanse streets, schools and parks of his name too.

Around 150 streets or other places carry the late humanitarian’s name, according to an AFP tally.

But that could soon drop.

Paris has said it wished to “exceptionally” rename gardens in his honour near the Seine River in the southeast of the city.

The northeastern city of Nancy said Monday that it was taking down a commemorative plaque to the man who was a parliament member in the region from 1945 to 1951.

“The words of the victims, women and children must be heard, respected and supported as a priority,” the town hall said.

In Lyon, where he was born, officials are to debate what to do about his presence in a fresco of famous people from the southeastern city painted on the side of a private building.

The eastern city of Besancon, meanwhile, is to rename a homeless shelter “very soon”.

‘Heartbreaking’

In July, a consulting firm hired by Abbe Pierre’s charities revealed that seven women had made allegations of sexual assault or harassment by the cleric between 1970 and 2005.

One of the women who came forward was underage at the time of the events.

Last week, it said at least 17 more people had made similar accusations of abuse dating from the 1950s into the 2000s, mostly in France but also in the United States, Morocco and Switzerland.

One woman said she endured “forcible kisses” and “contact” when she was eight to nine years old in the 1970s.

Several smaller communities are also taking action, with mayors seeking to renaming squares in the towns of Grande-Synthe and Talant, respectively in the north and east of France.

In the Brittany village of Hede-Bazouges, a primary school is shedding Abbe Pierre’s name.

“I had already spoken to the diocese in late August. But now after the latest revelations, there’s no hesitation,” headmistress Florina Loisel said.

In the nearby village of Tinteniac, a high school was doing the same.

“We didn’t even have the shadow of a doubt,” said its headmaster Raphael Gouablin.

The mayor of the village of Cysoing in the north of the country, Benjamin Dumortier, wants to rename a community hall.

“It’s heartbreaking, but we’re thinking about the victims,” he said.

Making amends

The Egae consultancy that uncovered the allegations of abuse says that, beyond the 24 testimonies it collected, several other people had come forward anonymously.

Emmaus is keeping a hotline open for any other potential victims.

“We are expecting more testimonies. The help line will remain active until at least the end of the year,” said Emmaus’s director Adrien Chaboche.

He said the charity was also thinking about how to make amends to people who have come forward to report abuse.

In 2021, an independent report on paedophilia in the Catholic Church in France found alleged abuse of at least 216,000 minors since the 1950s.

It has since set up a body called INIRR to study the cases of victims, in view of handing out compensation of up to €60,000 to each.

That body has said it will look at the cases against Abbe Pierre, but only four of the 24 people who have come forward so far were underage at the time of the alleged abuse.

And they may not want money.

INIRR head Marie Derain de Vaucresson said 13 of the 708 people approved to receive damages so far in the paedophilia cases had not wanted to accept its “financial component”.

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