France probes five over far-right plot to attack Jewish and Muslim events

French judicial authorities are investigating five people after uncovering an ultra-right plot to attack a religious venue.

A judicial official said on Tuesday that two people, one a minor, were arrested and placed under investigation in May for criminal terrorist association.

Three others were arrested in the probe that was opened in September in Grenoble, south-east France.

The anti-terrorism prosecutor’s office took over the case.

The official said only one of the four was being held.

He was confirming portions of a BFMTV report saying that targets were Muslim or Jewish.

BFMTV reported that one of the targets envisioned by the suspects, who had been arrested between September and May, was the annual dinner of the CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities.

They also targeted a “house of worship,” a police source told AFP. Muslim groups also were among the potential targets, that report said.

The plans were not detailed, BFMTV reported. One of the suspects is 15 years old. The suspects met online to discuss their plans. BFMTV did not indicate the source for the information about the CRIF dinner being a potential target.

Organised violence by far-right groups occurs occasionally against Muslims in France. Cases involving Jewish targets are extremely rare in the country, where virtually all antisemitic violence is committed by Muslims or people from Muslim families, according to the National Bureau for Vigilance Against Anti-Semitism.

There was no link with a 2017 ultra-right plot against mosques and migrants.