PARIS — French paramedic Seifelislam Benadda had just dropped off a patient at hospital on July 1, he said, when police informed him he was prohibited from leaving his hometown in the Paris suburbs, saying he was a potential threat to the Olympic Games. For the next nine days, instead of driving his ambulance, the 28-year-old checked in at the...
Paramedic Seifelislam Benadda, 28, poses next to his ambulance in Nogent-sur-Marne, near Paris, France, July 22, 2024.PARIS — French paramedic Seifelislam Benadda had just dropped off a patient at hospital on July 1, he said, when police informed him he was prohibited from leaving his hometown in the Paris suburbs, saying he was a potential threat to the Olympic Games.
In May, police arrested an 18-year-old suspected of planning a jihadist attack on the Saint-Etienne stadium, hosting Olympic football. Last week, a neo-Nazi was arrested on suspicion of plotting an attack during the passage of the Olympic flame. Other countries have ramped up their use of anti-terrorism powers ahead of major events, including Britain's increase in arrests ahead of the 2012 London Olympics. Reuters has previously documented how French authorities transferred hundreds of squatters and jailed hundreds of people in an effort to clear the streets of hawkers and crime ahead of the Games.
Judges have overturned or partly overturned six of the cases reviewed by Reuters, while four have been suspended or partially suspended. At least 24 appeal decisions on MICAS related to the Olympics have been issued since May, according to a Reuters tally of decisions published by courts or provided by lawyers.
Benadda distanced himself from his brothers, saying the family was paying a heavy toll for their past crimes.At 5.40 am on May 21, police raided the apartment where Benadda lives with his parents and siblings, including the two brothers, handcuffing his mother along with everybody else, and putting a gun to Benadda's head, he said.
Finding the balance between public security and personal liberty, including freedoms enshrined in France's constitution, is a significant challenge for authorities, said Benadda's lawyer Imad Bennouf. At two hearings attended by Reuters, the representative for the Interior Ministry said details in the intelligence notes were intentionally vague in order to protect sources. The Interior Ministry did not respond to a Reuters question about the lack of detail.
In the intelligence report supporting the measure, investigators claimed that as a coach Omar, 43, might radicalise Muslim youth. It said his wrestling club banned women and non-Muslims. In another example of a family member’s past crimes being cited as evidence, the suspicion against Omar dates to a brush with the law in 2013, when his brother robbed a Quick fast-food restaurant to finance a planned trip to Syria to join ISIS, the memo indicates.
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