French police arrest Russian suspected of plotting Paris Olympics ‘destabilisation’

French police on Tuesday arrested a Russian man suspected of plotting acts of “destabilisation” during the Paris Olympics, prosecutors said.

The man, born in 1984, was held in custody and placed under judicial investigation on suspicion of “organising events likely to lead to destabilisation during the Olympic Games”, a source in the state prosecution service, who asked not to be named, told AFP.

The source said an investigation was opened into “passing intelligence to a foreign power in order to arouse hostilities in France”, adding that the crime was punishable by up to 30 years in jail.

Prosecutors said a visit to the man’s home “at the request of the interior ministry” had uncovered evidence of the suspected plans.

They did not give any details of the alleged plot, except to say that it was not terrorist in nature, and that specialist anti-terrorist prosecutors were not following the case.

Read more: France 24