INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
French police on Tuesday arrested a Russian man suspected of plotting acts of "destabilization" during the Paris Olympics, prosecutors
said.The man, born in 1984, was held in custody and placed under judicial investigation on suspicion of "organizing events likely to lead to
destabilization during the Olympic Games," a source in the state prosecution service, who asked not to be named, told AFP.The source said an
investigation was opened into "passing intelligence to a foreign power in order to arouse hostilities in France," adding that the crime was
punishable by up to 30 years in jail.Prosecutors said a visit to the man's home "at the request of the interior ministry" had uncovered
evidence of the suspected plans.They did not give any details of the alleged plot, except to say that it was not terrorist in nature, and
that specialist anti-terrorist prosecutors were not following the case.Authorities have investigated over 1 million people, including
athletes, coaches, journalists, volunteers, security guards and even local residents near event locations ahead of the Olympics, Interior
Minister Gerald Darmanin told weekly Paris Match on Tuesday.Of those, 4,360 were denied access to the Games, with people close to Darmanin
telling AFP on Sunday that 880 were barred over suspicions of foreign interference.In recent months, several high-profile stunts have raised
suspicion that foreign actors are trying to influence French public opinion or stoke divisions, notably about Russia's invasion of Ukraine
or Israel's campaign in Gaza after the Oct
7 attack by Hamas.They include dummy coffins labeled "French soldiers in Ukraine" left by the Eiffel Tower in June and red hands tagged on
Paris's main Holocaust memorial in May.In October, soon after Hamas's attack, stars of David were tagged on buildings in the Paris region,
with two Moldovans suspected to be working for the Russian FSB security service later arrested.
