Latest news with #NicolasHeitz
France 24
15-05-2025
- Sport
- France 24
Ex-Olympic swim champion Agnel to go on trial over rape allegations
The investigation began in the summer of 2021 following a complaint from a swimmer who trained with Agnel in the eastern city of Mulhouse between 2014 and 2016. The swimmer is suspected of having had a relationship with his coach's daughter while staying at her parent's home in 2016, when he was 24 and she was 13. Agnel, now 32, has always insisted the relationship was consensual and loving. The former champion was indicted on charges of rape of a minor under the age of 15, Mulhouse public prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said in a statement. He is also being prosecuted for sexual assault of a minor under the age of 15, with both charges pertaining to the same victim. Agnel remains under judicial supervision. The investigation follows a complaint from Naome Horter, the daughter of the swimmer's former coach, Lionel Horter. According to prosecutors, the events in question took place between December, 31, 2015 and August 31, 2016 in various locations including Mulhouse, Thailand and the island of Tenerife. The investigation led to the indictment of the swimmer five months later, in December 2021. Agnel has always denied that he had any control over the teenager. The public prosecutor at the time, Edwige Roux-Morizot, considered that "the facts constitute rape and sexual assault due to the age difference, because the justice system considers that there is genuine moral duress." Last July, the swimmer, who had retired in 2016, went to the office of the investigating judge in Mulhouse for a confrontation that he had requested with his accuser, now in her early 20s. Agnel came to international prominence at the 2010 European championships when he won gold in the 400-metre freestyle, setting a new French and championships record. Two years later he starred at the London Olympics when he took gold in the 200m freestyle and the 4x100m freestyle relay as well as silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay. He collected gold medals in the same two events in the 2013 world championships. Agnel qualified for the 2016 Rio Olympics to defend his 200m freestyle title but failed to get through the heats and announced his retirement from swimming soon after. © 2025 AFP
Asharq Al-Awsat
23-02-2025
- Politics
- Asharq Al-Awsat
France Makes Arrests after Deadly Knife Attack
French police have made several arrests since a man went on a stabbing rampage, killing one and wounding several others in what President Emmanuel Macron called a "terrorist act,' anti-terror prosecutors told AFP Sunday. The knife-wielding suspect, identified by prosecutors as a 37-year-old Algerian-born man, was arrested at the site of Saturday's attack in the eastern city of Mulhouse. He was on a terrorism watchlist and subject to deportation orders. A further three people were in custody in connection with the case Sunday, the PNAT prosecutors unit said, without giving details. Local prosecutor Nicolas Heitz said the suspect, who he did not name, was registered on France's terrorist watchlist. Speaking at the police station late Saturday, Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said the man had "a schizophrenic profile" and his act had "a psychiatric dimension". Retailleau said France had repeatedly attempted to expel him from the country, but Algeria refused to cooperate. The rampage occurred around 4 pm (1500 GMT) near a busy market in Mulhouse, a city of around 110,000 people near the German border. At the time, demonstrators were rallying in support of the Democratic Republic of Congo. A 69-year-old Portuguese man was fatally wounded while parking attendants and police were also hurt. Two officers were seriously wounded, with one sustaining an injury to a carotid artery, and the other to the upper body, prosecutor Heitz told AFP, adding that the latter officer was able to leave hospital. Three other officers suffered minor injuries, prosecutors said. Macron later said there was "no doubt" that the incident was "a terrorist act.' The government was determined to continue doing "everything to eradicate terrorism on our soil,' he added.
Express Tribune
23-02-2025
- Express Tribune
One dead in France knife attack
One person died and two police officers were seriously injured Saturday in a knife attack in eastern France that President Emmanuel Macron said was an "Islamist terror act". Prosecutors said that three more officers were lightly wounded in the attack in the city of Mulhouse, carried out by a 37-year-old suspect who is on a terror prevention watchlist, called FSPRT, prosecutor Nicolas Heitz told AFP. The suspect was arrested. France's national anti-terror prosecutors unit (PNAT), which has taken charge of the investigation, said the suspect first attacked the municipal police officers, shouting "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest).
Voice of America
22-02-2025
- Politics
- Voice of America
1 dead, several police officers wounded in knife attack in France
One person died and two police officers were seriously injured in a knife attack in eastern France on Saturday that occurred during a demonstration, the local prosecutor said. Three more officers were lightly wounded in the attack in the city of Mulhouse, carried out by a 37-year-old suspect who is on a terror prevention watchlist, prosecutor Nicolas Heitz told AFP. The list, called FSPRT, compiles data from various authorities on people with the aim of preventing "terrorist" radicalization. It was launched in 2015 following deadly attacks on satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo's offices and on a Jewish supermarket. The suspect attacked local police officers in Mulhouse shouting "Allahu Akbar" ("God is greatest") Saturday afternoon, France's national antiterror prosecutors' unit PNAT said in a statement. A passerby was killed trying to intervene and help police, the prosecutor's office said. One of the seriously wounded police officers sustained an injury to the carotid artery, and the other to the thorax, Heitz said. Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau was expected to travel to the scene of the attack later Saturday. Police established a security parameter after the attack, which happened shortly before 4 p.m. local time during a demonstration in support of Congo. According to union sources, the suspect, born in Algeria, has been under judicial supervision and house arrest, and under an expulsion order from France. "Horror has seized our city," Mulhouse Mayor Michele Lutz said on Facebook. The incident was being investigated as a terror attack, she said, but "this must obviously still be confirmed by the judiciary." French President Emmanuel Macron said Saturday that the deadly knife attack was "Islamist terrorism," after France's anti-terrorism prosecutor's office confirmed it was investigating the case. "It is without any doubt an act of Islamist terrorism," Macron told reporters on the sidelines of the annual French farm show, adding that the interior minister was on his way to Mulhouse. The suspect has been arrested, the prosecutor's office said. Some information in this report is from Reuters.
Iraqi News
22-02-2025
- Iraqi News
6 killed, injured in stabbing attack in France
Follow-up - INA French media reported today, Saturday, that one person was killed and five others were injured in a stabbing attack in the city of Mulhouse, east of the country. The media said that "one person was killed and five others were injured, including two municipal police officers, in a stabbing attack that took place today, Saturday, in the city of Mulhouse, east of France, coinciding with a demonstration." The local public prosecutor, Nicolas Heitz, stated that the suspect, aged 37, is included in the "file for processing reports to avoid terrorist extremism," noting that "three of the other injured are municipal police officers and their condition is less serious." The media added that "the authorities arrested the perpetrator of the attack, while his motives and identity are still unknown so far."
