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CRIME

Man charged over mystery needle attacks in France

French prosecutors have charged a 20-year-old man in southern France in connection with a fresh spate of needle  attacks that have mystified police and alarmed authorities since the start of the year.

Man charged over mystery needle attacks in France
Reports of "needle attacks" have caused concern in France. Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP

The man was detained and charged on Sunday, two days after around 20 people reported needle injuries during the filming of a televised concert on a Riviera beach in Toulon on Friday evening.

One woman was hospitalised and police had to be called in after reports of the stabbings caused panic in the crowd.

The suspect was identified by two women who said that he attempted to assault them, leading him to be charged with aggravated and premeditated armed  violence, prosecutors in Toulon said.

READ ALSO: Reader question: Is the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis really a no-go zone?

“At the current stage of the investigation, the suspect denies the allegations entirely, but given the witness statements, the prosecutor’s office believes there is sufficient evidence to open a case and present him to a judge (to be charged),” the Toulon prosecutor Samuel Finielz said.

The attacks in Toulon took place during the live recording of “The Song of the Year” show for the TF1 channel, which was broadcast on Saturday night.

Since the start of the year, at least 100 incidents have been reported of young people suffering needle injuries at nightclubs and festivals.

New injuries

New attacks were reported at two music festivals over the weekend.

Six complaints from teenagers aged between 17-18 were lodged at a festival in Belfort in eastern France after they experienced sudden sharp pain in their hands or arms.

Another seven people reported needle injuries at a festival in Vic-Fezensac in southwest France where police arrested a man afterwards, local prosecutor Jacques-Edouard Andrault said.

Most of the victims since the start of the year have been young women.

They often report the sudden onset of identical symptoms — nausea, dizziness and sharp pain — and only later detect a needle prick on their skin.

READ ALSO: No, Paris suburbs are not all deprived and crime-ridden

Cases have been reported all around the country from the western cities of Nantes and Rennes, to the south and Atlantic coasts, and the French Alps.

Authorities advise all victims to undergo blood tests afterwards and some have been given preventative treatment for HIV and hepatitis.

Victims do not appear to have been injected with toxic substances or drugs.

Police have usually struggled to identify the culprits or determine exactly what is being used, either a syringe or a simple pin.

But nightclub owners are beginning to feel the impact of the attacks on their earnings, only months after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions which saw them closed for long periods.

The attacks were sparking “hysteria” among young people, Thierry Fontaine from the UMIH hospitality association told AFP in April.

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CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

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