Olympics security means minorities and others flagged as potential terror threats can’t move freely
French authorities are making broad use of discretionary powers during the 2024 Olympics and their run-up to keep hundreds of people they deem to be potential security threats away from the biggest event modern France has ever organized
PARIS (AP) — They are Nabil, Amine, François and more. But they will not be seen around the Paris Olympics, because France's government barred them from getting anywhere close.
French authorities are making unprecedentedly broad use of discretionary powers under an anti-terror law to keep hundreds of people they deem to be potential security threats away from the biggest event modern France has ever organized.
Minorities — largely with backgrounds in former French colonies — are often among those forbidden from leaving their neighborhoods and required to report daily to police, their lawyers say. Some are alarmed by the sweeping use of what one described as “a terribly dangerous tool.”
Some of those now restricted in their movements, with orders that don't require prior approval from judges, include a man who had mental health issues in the past but is now receiving treatment. There also is an apprentice bank worker and business student who believes he's been targeted in part because he's Muslim and his father was born in Morocco, plus a halal food delivery driver who risks losing his job because he is banned from straying far from home during the 2024 Olympics and ensuing Paralympics, their lawyers say.
