French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has imposed a severe penalty on a man who was caught lighting a cigarette from the Eternal Flame at the Unknown Soldier War Memorial, writes “Politico.”
The interior minister has announced that a 47-year-old immigrant from Morocco will have his French residence permit revoked for desecrating the war memorial. A video showing the man stopping at the Unknown Soldier War Memorial in Paris and lighting a cigarette with the Eternal Flame has been widely shared online and has sparked public anger.
Retailleau called the man’s actions inappropriate and regrettable, while Veterans and Remembrance Minister Patricia Miralles wrote that
France will never allow anyone to desecrate the memory of the fallen.
A staunch conservative, Retailleau, who also has high hopes for the presidential election scheduled for 2027, has taken a very tough stance on security and migration issues since taking office in September 2024. He wants France to take a stronger stance against Algeria to limit migration and to expel more illegal immigrants.
The Paris memorial consists of an ever-burning flame and the tomb of an unknown soldier who fell during World War I, and is located under the tourist-favorite Arc de Triomphe.
The man who lit a cigarette on the Unknown Soldier War Memorial was arrested on the 5th of August and confessed to the crime. According to information obtained by the French newspaper Le Figaro, the person was known to police and had previously committed offenses. The cancellation of the man’s residence permit is the first step in deporting him back to Morocco.
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