A volunteer’s attorney at A gothic cathedral in the city of Nantes in western France. He has said that he confessed to burning the building that severely damaged his seventeenth-century organ and blew stained glass.
The 39-year-old defendant, a Rwandan asylum seeker who has lived in France for several years, was arrested earlier this month after laboratory analysis determined that the arson was the probable cause of the fire, the office said. from the local prosecutor.
“My client has cooperated,” attorney Quentin Chabert told the Presse-Ocean newspaper on Sunday, without giving details of the reasons for trying to burn down the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Paul.
“He bitterly regrets his actions … My client is consumed with remorse,” said Chabert.
Prosecutors began an arson investigation after the July 18 morning fire after discovering that it erupted in three different locations in the church, which the volunteer had locked up the night before.
They took him to question the next day, but then released him without charge, and the rector of the cathedral said: “I trust him as I trust all the assistants.”
But Nantes prosecutor Pierre Sennes said in a statement that he had been charged with “destruction and fire damage” and faces up to 10 years in prison and 150,000 euros ($ 175,000) in fines.
“He admitted during his first appearance for questioning before the examining magistrate that it caused three fires in the cathedral: in the main organ, the smallest organ and the electrical panel,” Sennes told Presse-Ocean on Sunday.
Destroyed famous organ
The fire came 15 months after the devastating fire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, which raised questions about the security risks for other historic churches across France.
While firefighters were able to contain the Nantes fire after just two hours and save the cathedral’s main structure, the famous organ, which dates back to 1621 and survived the bombardment of the French Revolution and World War II, was destroyed.
Priceless artifacts and paintings were also lost, including a work by 19th-century artist Hippolyte Flandrin and stained glass windows containing remains of 16th-century glass.
Work on the cathedral began in 1434 and continued through the following centuries until 1891.
It had already been damaged by a more serious fire in 1972, when authorities added concrete reinforcements by remaking the roof over the next 13 years.
The French government said it will guarantee the restoration of the cathedral, although few elements of the main organ are likely to be saved, said Philippe Charron, head of the regional state heritage agency DRAC.
“It will take several weeks to secure the site … and several months of inspections to be carried out stone by stone,” he said.
Reconstruction will take several years, he said.
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