Frontex turning ‘blind eye’ to human rights violations, says former deputy

Gil Arias Fernández says EU border agency, which is under investigation for illegal migrant pushbacks, cannot stop far-right infiltrating its ranks

The former deputy head of Europe’s border and coastguard agency has said the state of the beleaguered force “pains” him and that it is vulnerable to the “alarming” rise of populism across the continent.

In his first interview since leaving office, Gil Arias Fernández, former deputy director at Frontex and once tipped for the top post, said he was deeply worried about the agency’s damaged reputation, its decision to arm officers, and its inability to stop the far-right infiltrating its ranks, amid anti-migrant movements across Europe.

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Charlie Hebdo: four men charged over Paris knife attack

Arrest of Pakistanis held on suspicion of inciting attacker comes after court convicts 14 people linked to 2015 terrorist massacre

French authorities have charged and detained four Pakistanis suspected of links to a meat cleaver attack by a compatriot outside the former offices of the Charlie Hebdo weekly that wounded two people, the national counter-terrorism prosecutor’s office has said.

The four male suspects, aged 17 to 21, were in contact with the attacker, a source familiar with the case said on Friday.

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Charlie Hebdo trial: French court convicts 14 over 2015 terror attacks

Defendants found guilty on range of charges from membership of criminal network to complicity in attacks

A court in France has convicted 14 people in relation to the January 2015 terror attacks in Paris on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish supermarket.

A total of 17 people were murdered across three days in a series of attacks that horrified the nation. All three assailants were killed in shootouts with the police, leaving only accomplices to face trial.

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Shooting of priest shocks France as two more held over Nice killings

Police seal off area and make an arrest after Greek Orthodox cleric is seriously hurt in Lyon shotgun attack

French police were hunting a gunman who shot and seriously injured a Greek Orthodox priest in the city of Lyon yesterday afternoon.

The latest attack came two days after a terrorist killed three people at a church in Nice and two weeks after the beheading of a high school teacher.

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French teachers vow to ‘teach difficult subjects’ after colleague’s murder

Defiance follows the beheading of Samuel Paty for showing his pupils controversial Charlie Hebdo cartoons

Shocked French teachers vowed to continue encouraging their pupils’ “critical spirit” by raising contested subjects after an Islamic terrorist beheaded a secondary school teacher who showed his students caricatures of the Prophet as part of a freedom of speech discussion.

Representatives of teaching unions met the education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer and the prime minister Jean Castex on Saturday, hours after the death of 47-year-old history and geography teacher Samuel Paty.

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Suspect in new Charlie Hebdo attack angered by republished cartoons, say Paris police

Detained man, believed to be 18 and from Pakistan, arrived in France as unaccompanied minor three years ago

The man arrested after a knife attack on two people outside the former offices of the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo told detectives he had been angered by its publication of cartoons mocking the prophet Muhammad, French media reported yesterday.

The suspect, believed to be an 18-year-old born in Pakistan, is thought to have arrived in France three years ago as an unaccompanied minor.

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Charlie Hebdo survivor tells of being forced to unlock door by gunmen

Cartoonist ‘Coco’ gives evidence at trial of 14 suspects accused of complicity in 2015 Paris attacks

A survivor of the Charlie Hebdo massacre has described how Islamist terrorists forced her to open the door of the satirical newspaper’s offices at gunpoint as they arrived to murder 11 people.

Corinne Rey, a cartoonist known as “Coco”, told a Paris court she was convinced she was about to die as the brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi entered the building saying: “We want Charlie Hebdo.”

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Charlie Hebdo attack: suspected accomplices go on trial in Paris

Fourteen charged over killing of 17 people at satirical magazine and kosher supermarket

The trial of 14 suspects accused of involvement in the 2015 attacks on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and the kosher supermarket Hyper Cacher has opened in Paris.

The hearing, expected to last 49 days and recorded live for “the historical record”, began amid high security and will relive the three days of terror in January 2015 that left 17 people dead and others injured.

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Charlie Hebdo reprints cartoons of prophet ahead of terror trial

Images depicting Muhammad on cover as alleged accomplices in 2015 attack due in court

The French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo is to republish controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to mark the start of a trial of suspected accomplices of terrorist gunmen who attacked its offices in January 2015.

The attack on the publication’s offices by brothers Saïd and Chérif Kouachi left 12 people dead, including several of France’s most famous cartoonists.

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