MARSEILLE, 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.
اضافة اعلان
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 hospitalized 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.
“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.
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.
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.
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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