{"id":38702,"date":"2023-03-30T17:51:17","date_gmt":"2023-03-30T17:51:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/french-court-sends-rwandan-to-jail-for-burning-church"},"modified":"2023-03-31T16:12:38","modified_gmt":"2023-03-31T16:12:38","slug":"french-court-sends-rwandan-to-jail-for-burning-church","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/french-court-sends-rwandan-to-jail-for-burning-church","title":{"rendered":"French court sends Rwandan to jail for burning church"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>A French court on Wednesday handed a four-year jail term to Emmanuel Abayisenga – a Rwandan – for starting a fire that severely damaged a Gothic cathedral in the city of Nantes in 2020.<\/p>\n

According to France 24, Abayisenga, 42,, is also facing legal action for a separate incident in which he allegedly killed a priest in western France in 2021.<\/p>\n

The court ruled that Abayisenga was not mentally sound at the time of the fire at the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul when it handed down the sentence.<\/p>\n

The court also banned Abayisenga from bearing weapons and staying in the western Loire-Atlantique region, where Nantes is located, for five years.<\/p>\n

Abayisenga, who arrived in France in 2012 and had been a volunteer for the local diocese, had admitted causing the blaze at the start of the hearing.<\/p>\n

He said he had entered the cathedral to pray but then “lost control” after passing by a location in the building where he suffered a violent attack in 2018.<\/p>\n

Speaking through an interpreter, he said he regretted what happened and asked for forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Abayisenga has a history of unsuccessful asylum claims and received an order to leave France in 2019, which was said to have deeply troubled him.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Veronique Wester-Ouisse said the defendant set fire to the cathedral knowingly due to “huge anger and a feeling of revenge linked to his administrative situation”.<\/p>\n

Firefighters were able to contain the blaze quickly and save the main structure, but its famed 17th-century organ, which had survived the French revolution and bombardment during World War II, was destroyed.<\/p>\n

Also lost were priceless artefacts, paintings and stained-glass windows that contained remnants of 16th-century glass.<\/p>\n

The cathedral’s owners estimated the damage at more than 40 million euros ($43 million).<\/p>\n

The blaze in Nantes came 15 months after the devastating fire at the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris, which raised questions about the security risks for other historic churches across France.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Rwanda. A French court on Wednesday handed a four-year jail term to Emmanuel Abayisenga – a Rwandan – for starting a fire that severely damaged a Gothic cathedral in the city of Nantes in 2020. According to France 24, Abayisenga, 42,, is also facing legal action for a separate incident in which he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":38701,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,30],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-38702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-community","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\nFrench court sends Rwandan to jail for burning church - Rwanda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A French court on Wednesday handed a four-year jail term to Emmanuel Abayisenga - a Rwandan - for starting a fire that s ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/rwanda\/all-news\/french-court-sends-rwandan-to-jail-for-burning-church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"French court sends Rwandan to jail for burning church\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A French court on Wednesday handed a four-year jail term to Emmanuel Abayisenga - 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