17 January 2023 , 16:59
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A group of men accused of conspiring in a far-right plot to assassinate Emmanuel Macron have gone on trial in France.
Some 13 men appeared in a Paris court on Tuesday charged with the terrorism offences, details of which emerged for the first time.
The group allegedly planned to kill the French President on Armistice Day in 2018, as the country marked a century since the end of WWI.
Among those in the dock were 66-year-old father of five Jean-Pierre Bouyer, who the prosecution claim tried to get an accomplice to distract Mr Macron by talking to him before stabbing him with a ceramic knife.
Paris Correctional Court heard Bouyer had branded the leader as "a little hysterical dictator" in a Facebook post, before calling on others to "eliminate those who want to harm you".
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Jean-Pierre Bouyer (C), a suspected member of French far-right group Les Barjols, pictured with lawyer Olivia Ronen (STR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Bouyer was part of a gang called the Barjols, which translates as ‘The Crazies’, which came under surveillance by French security services in 2018.
Their known members - 11 men including Bouyer, and two women - now face a charge of ‘terrorist conspiracy’.
All have been described as "angry paramilitaries" with links to "far-right groups" in the eastern Moselle region of France.
A suspected member of French far-right group Les Barjols and his lawyer (right) arrive at the courthouse in Paris (STR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Bouyer was arrested with three accomplices on November 6, 2018, when a police spokesman said he was "armed with knife to assassinate Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of the centenary Armistice".
A dagger was found in Bouyer’s car, alongside a Bible, while firearms and ammunition were in his home.
Citing evidence from intercepted phone calls and online, prosecutors said the 13 also planned to kill migrants and attack mosques.
Another defendant (left) arrives at the Paris court accused of being involved in the alleged plot (STR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)The investigation started in 2018, when France's domestic intelligence service received a tip about the Barjols.
During police questioning, Bouyer admitted he wanted to kill Macron, but said one of his co-accused would be the assassin.
The idea was for the man to approach Macron, as if to chat to him, and then use a ceramic bladed knife to kill him.
The 13 men are accused of trying to plot an attack on French President Emmanuel Macron. Pictured is a French Gendarme officer patrolling Paris' Palais de Justice (AFP via Getty Images)Bouyer later withdrew this confession saying it had "just been talk", according to the prosecution.
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Police later arrested other members of the Barjols, including Denis Collinet, who is a proponent of the white supremacist "great replacement" theory that falsely claims that France’s native white, Catholic population is being replaced by non-white immigrants.
Barjols members also allegedly wanted to kidnap members of French parliament and overthrow the government.
Lawyers arrive alongside one of the defendants at the Paris court (STR/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)Investigating magistrates said in a pre-trial statement that it was "an established fact" that the group's plans "were entirely aimed at seriously disrupting the public order by intimidation and terror".
But defence barrister Lucile Collot said the case against her clients were was based "on the fiction that a violent act was going to happen".
Because none of the alleged plots were ever carried out, prosecutors downgraded some of the initial charges over the course of their four-year investigation.
The trial is set to run until February 3.