Skinheads arrested for desecration

The Jerusalem Post/July 29, 2004
By Michel Zlotowski

Two skinheads were arrested Thursday in Bar le Duc in eastern France in connection with the desecration of a monument in memory of the Jewish soldiers who were killed in action during World War I.

The monument near Verdun was defaced in May with huge swastikas.

The two youths, who were not named, "are young people with little brains who acted more out of stupidity rather than out of real conviction," said Amaury Lacote, deputy state prosecutor of the Verdun area.

This position was not shared by the Ministry of Justice, which wants the two sued for "defacing monument in concerted action," an offense punishable by a five-year sentence and a 75,000 fine.