French minister reacts to mass arrest of natives of Chechnya

In the French city of Saint-Dizier, law enforcers detained 16 natives from Chechnya; three of them were accused of organizing a criminal community and preparing armed revenge for their fellow countryman. The head of the French Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) has proposed to tighten the rules for considering asylum requests received from natives of Chechnya.

Gerald Darmanen, the head of the French MIA, met Saint-Dizier law enforcers, who on August 14 detained 16 natives from Chechnya who, according to law enforcers, had been planning an attack on one of their fellow countrymen's offender, the "BFM.ru" has reported today.

According to the minister, 13 out of the 16 detainees were placed into custody; three others were released without charge. Three of those detained kept knives, baseball bats and a sabre in their cars. According to law enforcers, they had planned to take revenge on the man who had earlier wounded their fellow countryman in a brawl in the Ver Bois area.

The minister has stressed that not a single Diaspora "has the right to establish its own laws" in France.

Many members of the Chechen Diaspora are asking for asylum in France, Gerald Darmanen has recalled, emphasising that he would ask his administration to reconsider the requests for asylum submitted by the people involved in such incidents.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 17, 2020 at 10:48 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.