Man outrages France by lighting cigarette from memorial flame
The video of a man stooping and lighting up from the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under the Arc de Triomphe, before walking calmly away watched by tourists, caused indignation when it was widely shared on social media.
The alleged infraction took place on Monday evening and the man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon, police told AFP.
'You cannot ridicule French remembrance and get away with it,' Patricia Miralles, minister for veterans and remembrance, wrote in a social media post.
The tomb, under the Arc de Triomphe at the top of the Champs-Elysées, contains the remains of a soldier killed in the First World War, laid there as a tribute to France's dead.
'This flame does not light a cigarette, it burns for the sacrifice of millions of our soldiers,' said Miralles. 'This is an insult to our dead, to our history and to our nation.'
AFP was not able to determine the origin of the video.
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Le Figaro
newspaper reported that it was filmed by a Latvian tourist on the evening of August 4th and first posted on TikTok.
The tourist told
Le Figaro
that the man did not appear drunk and seemed to be well aware of what he was doing. The newspaper later reported that the arrested man was homeless and known to police. If found guilty, he faces up to a year in prison and a fine of up to €15,000.
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