Three Al-Jazeera journalists were arrested in Paris yesterday on suspicion of flying a drone over the city’s landmarks, reports The Local, citing a judicial source said.
“The first was piloting the drone, the second was filming and the third was watching”, said the source.
The arrests in the Bois de Boulogne followed multiple drone sightings over the capital for the past two nights, and other such incidents elsewhere in France.
Flying drones over the French capital is banned by law, and the latest sightings come at a time of heightened vigilance following last month’s jihadist attacks.
The names and nationalities of the three journalists from Al-Jazeera’s international service have not been revealed.
There were at least five sightings of drones in central Paris on Tuesday to Wednesday, although the detained journalists may not have been responsible for them.
The authorities have been alarmed by the flying of drones in defiance of the law. A government spokesman said: “People should not be worried but vigilant. It’s an issue which is taken very seriously”.
The offence carries a maximum one-year prison sentence and a £55,000 fine.
