Neo-nazi Leader Questioned in Connection with Desecration of Jewish Cemetery Near Parts

French police have called in neo-Nazi leader Marc Fredriksen for “intensive questioning” in connection with last Sunday’s desecration of some 80 gravestones in the Jewish cemetery of Bagneux outside Paris. The leader of the Federation of European Nationalist Action (FANE) had earlier denied any responsibility for the outrage. He claimed it was probably carried out by people “who want us (FANE members) to be further persecuted.”

Police today also briefly detained II suspects. They were all released after they apparently managed to convince investigators that they were not connected with the Bagneux attack. All II belong to various neo-Nazi and neo-fascist organizations.

The gravestones were daubed with red and black paint with inscriptions reading: “Death to Israel,” “Death to the Jews,” and “Death to acid throwers.” The last inscription apparently refers to an attack against a FANE militant who was ambushed hear his home and had acid thrown in his face. Police suspect Jewish extremists of having carried out the attack.

The Representative Council of Major Jewish Organizations in France (CRIF) has called on the Jewish community to attend a mass meeting at Bagneux tomorrow afternoon. French Chief Rabbi Rene Sirat will recite Kadish. Government and opposition leaders representing the two candidates now running for the presidency, President Valery Giscard d’Estaing and Socialist leader Francois Mitterrand, are also expected to attend.

Several organizations have asked the government to adopt additional measures against the neo-Nazis. FANE itself was outlawed last September and several of its members have since been tried on charges of spreading racist propaganda and hate mongering.