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More graves disturbed in France

February 18, 2015

More gravesites have been vandalized in France, just hours after President Francois Hollande visited a desecrated Jewish cemetery in Alsace. The latest incident occurred in Normandy, near former D-Day landing beaches.

https://p.dw.com/p/1EdnP
Frankreich Normandie Geschändeter christlicher Friedhof
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Geufroi

French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said Wednesday he was "disgusted" by the violent disturbance of dozens of Christian graves at the coastal village of Tracy-sur-Mer.

"Several dozen crucifixes were moved, some of them turned over and planted in the ground," Cazeneuve said, adding that police had no clear leads to the identities of the latest culprits.

Tracy-sur-Mer lies close to Arromanches-les-Bains, which was known as "Gold Beach" during the 1944 invasion by Allied forces that went on to defeat Nazi Germany.

Frankreich Präsident Hollande auf jüdischem Friedhof
Hollande with Great Rabbi Rene Gutman in Sarre-UnionImage: Patrick Hertzog/AFP/Getty Images

Hollande vows protection

On Tuesday, Hollande vowed that the French nation would protect Jews with "all its force" as he led a ceremony at Sarre-Union in Alsace, where some 250 tombs and graves were defaced and damaged last Thursday.

Five teenage boys were taken into custody for investigation over that incident. Prosecutor Philippe Vannier said on Monday that the youngest aged 15 had denied harboring any anti-Semitic motive.

France remains tense amid concerns about intolerance following last month's fatal jihadist attacks in Paris in which 17 people were killed and more fatal attacks in Denmark last weekend.

Funeral in Copenhagen

Hundreds of mourners attended the funeral in Copenhagen on Wednesday for a volunteer Jewish security guard, Dan Uzan. The 37-year-old was killed outside Copenhagen's main synagogue late Saturday during a shooting spree.

The suspect, a Danish-born man of Palestinian origin, was shot dead by police early on Sunday. On Saturday, he had first opened fire outside a cultural center where Danes were attending a debate on free speech and Islam.

Finn Noergaard, a Danish documentary film director, was shot dead.

ipj/kms (dpa, Reuters, AFP)