A Paris court has jailed six men from a neo-nazi terror group for up to seven years over arms trafficking and plans to attack Jewish, Muslim, LGBTQ+ and left-wing targets, with one member of the gang still at large. AParis court has jailed six men who belonged to a neo-Nazi terrorist cell, including an ex-police officer and two former soldiers. The men faced charges of weapons trafficking and alleged preparations for violent action against specific targets. Five of the defendants, aged between 22 and 25, were convicted of terrorist offences, while a sixth defendant, a 61-year-old retired police officer, was convicted in relation to weapons trafficking. The prosecution argued that the defendants were not simply involved in the expression of extremist views but had moved towards practical preparations for acts of violence. Mass murderers Investigators discovered weapons-related activity and lists of potential targets which included the Jewish community, Muslims, LGBTQ+ people and left-wing activists. During the trial the prosecution highlighted the admiration that some of the defendants had expressed for Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant, the white supremacist mass murderers who together killed nearly 130 people, respectively in 2011 in Norway and in 2019 in New Zealand. Among those convicted were two former members of the military. One defendant was described by prosecutors as a central figure in the network. When he was arrested police found sixty firearms at his home including pistols, Kalashnikovs, grenades and ammunition, together with a bust of Hitler, a portrait of Pétain, copies of Mein Kampf, and cards signed by former SS members Another, the youngest defendant, who had a Japanese mother and a Moroccan father, told the court he had rejected his mixed-race identity, and that while he had abandoned certain elements of his far-right ideology, he held on to others. He was unrepentant throughout the trial. He received the harshest sentence – seven years in prison with a two-thirds minimum term – and was ordered to undergo an additional six years of post-release supervision.
via searchlight: Ex-police officer and soldiers in Paris neo-nazi terror cell
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