Five natives of Chechnya detained in France on suspicion of preparing terror acts

French law enforcers have detained five natives of Chechnya on suspicion of preparing terror acts, Yvon Calvet, the prosecutor of the French city of Béziers has reported today.

According to his story, the detentions took place at night on January 20 near the cities of Béziers and Montpellier. One of them was detained in Béziers; and four others – in the region of Montpellier.

In Béziers, close to the stadium "Sauclières", a hideout with explosives was also found, the French newspaper “Midi Libre” reports with reference to the prosecutor's office.

Four of the detainees are Russian citizens; and the fifth one is a citizen of Austria, the TV Channel “France 3” reports.

The “Interfax" adds referring to the BFM TV that the detained natives of Chechnya are from 24 to 37 years old.

The detainees are being held in custody; however, their names are not specified yet.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 20, Grozny hosted  a mass action "We love Muhammad", initiated by Chechen clergy in protest to the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. According to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), the rally was over 800,000 strong, while the local MIA claimed over a million, with the total population of the republic, as of January 1, 2014, according to the Russian State Statistics Committee, making 1,346,000 people.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.