124 people charged in France since state of emergency issued over Paris attacks
A total of 124 people have been handed preliminary charges in France since a state of emergency was declared hours after the Paris attacks, the French interior minister has said.
Bernard Cazeneuve told MPs on Tuesday that more than 1,230 searches were carried out, and 230 arms recovered. He provided no details about the charges for the 124 people.
It is the first time authorities have announced charges since the attacks on November 13 that killed 130 people and wounded hundreds of others.
The news came as Italy's interior minister confirmed that a fugitive from the attacks travelled through Italy in August.
Italian news media had reported that Salah Abdeslam, the object of an international manhunt, and another suspected Islamic State militant had travelled through the country on August 1, catching a ferry from the southern port of Bari to Greece.
Interior Minister Angelino Alfano said that “when they made the crossing they were free citizens, not sought-after terrorists”.
News reports indicate that Abdeslam and Ahmad Dahmani returned to Bari from Greece on August 5, travelling through Italy by car before crossing the border to France the next day.
Dahmani was detained in a luxury hotel in Turkey over the weekend.
Meanwhile, police in north-western Germany are investigating a tip received from a member of the public that Abdeslam may be hiding out in a rural area near Hanover.
Bielefeld police said that they had been given a specific address in the nearby Minden-Luebbecke area where the fugitive was alleged to have been hiding, but so far after “an intensive investigation” have not found any sign that he had been there.
Abdeslam is thought to have crossed into Belgium the morning after the attacks.
