Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

CRIME

French ex-soldier caught after manhunt in Dordogne

French police say that a former soldier who opened fire on officers in Dordogne has been captured after mahunt that had been ongoing since Saturday.

Published: 31 May 2021 11:53 CEST
Updated: 31 May 2021 13:23 CEST
French ex-soldier caught after manhunt in Dordogne
Dordogne Préfet Frédéric Périssat and police commander André Pétillot. Photo: Thibault Mazar/AFP

Since Saturday night, hundreds of armed officers has been around the commune of Le Lardin-Saint-Lazare in Dordogne, searching for the 29-year-old former soldier, who is reported to be heavily armed and hiding in a forest after having fired on gendarmes.

On Monday afternoon, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the man had been “neutralised” while Dordogne Préfet Frederic Perissat, told a press conference in Le Lardin-Saint-Lazare that the suspect was shot and wounded by police, and had been taken into custody.

They had initially been called to the village of 1,750 inhabitants, located about 30 kilometres from Sarlat, for domestic violence.

Around midnight on Saturday/Sunday, the suspect showed up at his ex-partner’s house in the village of around 1,800 residents, where he acted violently against her new boyfriend, police said.

When the police showed up after being called to the scene, the suspect allegedly fired at them before fleeing to the nearby woods.

Locals were instructed to stay indoors as the police hunt continued into Sunday and then Monday.

André Pétillot, the commander in charge of the police operation, also announced that a photo of the soldier would be distributed to facilitate his tracking “if local residents see him”. 

A source close to the investigation said the suspect had served in the army between 2011 and 2016.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

POLITICS

France to set up national prosecutor’s office for combatting organised crime

The French Minister of Justice wants to create a national prosecutor's office dedicated to fighting organised crime and plans to offer reduced sentences for "repentant" drug traffickers.

Published: 28 April 2024 13:02 CEST
France to set up national prosecutor's office for combatting organised crime

Speaking to French Sunday newspaper Tribune Dimanche, Eric Dupond-Moretti said he also intends to offer “repentant” drug traffickers a change of identify.

This new public prosecutor’s office – PNACO – “will strengthen our judicial arsenal to better fight against crime at the high end of the spectrum,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

Former head of the national anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office Jean-François Ricard, appointed a few days ago as special advisor to the minister, will be responsible for consultations to shape the reform, the details of which will be presented in October, Dupond-Moretti said.

Inspired by the pentiti (repent) law in force in Italy, which is used to fight mafia crime, Dupond-Moretti also announced that he would create a “genuine statute” that rewards repentance.

“Legislation [in France] already exists in this area, but it is far too restrictive and therefore not very effective,” Dupond-Moretti explained.

In future, a judge will be able to grant special status to a repentant criminal who has “collaborated with justice” and “made sincere, complete and decisive statements to dismantle criminal networks”.

The sentence incurred by the person concerned would be reduced and, for their protection, they would be offered, “an official and definitive change of civil status”, a “totally new” measure, the minister said.

The Minister of Justice is also proposing that, in future, special assize courts, composed solely of professional magistrates, be entrusted not only with organised drug trafficking, as is already the case today, but also with settling scores between traffickers.

This will avoid pressure and threats on the citizen jurors who have to judge these killings, he said.

Finally, the minister plans to create a crime of “organised criminal association” in the French penal code. This will be punishable by 20 years of imprisonment.

Currently, those who import “cocaine from Colombia” risk half that sentence for “criminal association”, he said.

SHOW COMMENTS