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CRIME

Hundreds mourn murdered French schoolgirl

Mourners wept and hundreds of well-wishers laid down white flowers at the funeral on Saturday of Maëlys de Araujo, a French eight year old abducted from a wedding and murdered.

Hundreds mourn murdered French schoolgirl
Crowds watched Maelys de Araujo speak on a large screen erected in La-Tour-du-Pin. Photo: Romain Lafabregue/ AFP
Maëly's body was found in February, six months after the schoolgirl went missing from an August 27 wedding in a case which shocked the whole country.
   
“Nine months are lives have been broken … I spent nine years of happiness with you,” said her tearful mother, Jennifer Cleyet-Marrel, at the funeral in the central eastern town of La-Tour-du-Pin, which was decked out in white 
balloons to symbolise a lost innocent child.
 
Nordhal Lelandais, a former soldier aged 35, admitted in February to killing Maelys, but claimed he accidentally struck her in the face. His testimony led investigators to her remains but the exact cause of death has not been established.
   
The 400-capacity church was full to bursting for the service which was broadcast on big screens in the town square where some 200 people, some who had come a considerable distance, gathered to pay their respects along with members of the media.
   
Among those present were the parents of Arthur Noyer, a young soldier Lelandais has confessed to killing in April last year.
 
Maelys was to be buried at a private ceremony following the funeral in her nearby home village.
   
“This could happen to anyone. They are finally going to be able to lay her to rest,” said Sebastien, 45, a resident of La-Tour-du-Pin who came to pay his respects and sign a book of condolences.

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CRIME

Teens charged in France over plot to attack Jewish targets: judicial source

French prosecutors have charged a 19-year-old man and a youth in the Paris region with planning a "terrorist" attack on Jewish targets, a judicial source told AFP on Friday.

Teens charged in France over plot to attack Jewish targets: judicial source

While no details on the pair have been released, French anti-terrorist investigators have expressed increased concern over the young age of some suspects detained in recent months for planning militant attacks.

The 19-year-old has been charged with “terrorist conspiracy” to commit attacks and the “acquisition and possession of arms for a terrorist enterprise,” said the judicial source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

READ ALSO: Anti-Semitism fears stalk Jewish voters’ choice in France

The youth aged under 18 was detained on June 13, the source said.

The pair made contact on social media and were planning a “a violent action notably aiming at Jewish targets,” said the source without giving details on the plot.

Anti-terrorism investigators say a growing number of youths have been held in recent months for preparing attacks.

READ ALSO: French election breakdown: TV debates, polling latest and anti-Semitism

“This is a necessarily worrying phenomenon,” senior anti-terrorist prosecutor Olivier Christen said at an evidentiary hearing on Wednesday.

French politicians have also condemned a growing number of attacks on the country’s Jewish community, the biggest outside Israel and the United States.

Outrage has been expressed over the rape of a 12-year-old Jewish girl in a park in the Paris suburbs last Saturday. Two 13-year-old boys have been charged with rape and making anti-Semitic insults.

Several protest rallies have been held in Paris and other French cities over the case which comes as France prepares for a national election in which the far-right National Rally party is tipped to make major gains. 

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