A hostage-taking is still in progress this Monday evening in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. One of the two kidnapped women has just been released by the maniac on December 20. He remains locked in a shop, in the Aligre district, with another woman, we learned from a police source. The man, “known for psychological disorders”, is about fifty years old. The Police Prefecture’s Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI) is on site.
The terrorist trail is a priori ruled out. The hostage taker wishes to speak to the Minister of Justice, Eric Dupond-Moretti, indicated a source familiar with the matter. “The Minister of Justice told the negotiators that he was at their disposal”, said the Chancellery to our colleagues at franceinfo.
The man also asked to speak to Sylvie Noachovitch, a lawyer specializing in family law and criminal law and advocate for Omar Raddad. According to information from franceinfo, the lawyer has been put in touch with the hostage taker.
Emmanuel Grégoire, the first deputy mayor of Paris said in the afternoon on Twitter that he was going there. The elected official called to avoid the area and follow the instructions of the Paris police headquarters. The district would still be cordoned off according to our colleagues at Franceinfo.