French authorities have foiled several plots to disrupt the 2024 Olympics, including arresting a Russian man in one of them, officials said Wednesday, just days before the opening ceremony of the Summer Games in Paris.
France has been on high alert over the past few weeks as preparations to host the Olympics hit the final stretch. The Games officially begin Friday with a lavish and high-security opening ceremony on the Seine.
Paris prosecutors said Wednesday they had arrested a 40-year-old Russian man Tuesday at his Paris apartment on suspicion of planning to “destabilize the Olympic Games.”
He was charged with “conducting intelligence work on behest of a foreign power” with an aim to “provoke hostilities in France,” crimes punishable with 30-year sentence in France, the statement said.
During an official search of the suspect’s home in Paris, police agents found items that “raised fears of his intention to organize events …