A Rwandan refugee and church volunteer admitted to causing three fires in arson that severely damaged a 15th-century Gothic cathedral in western France earlier this month, his lawyer confirmed.
The July 18 fire destroyed the organ, smashed the stained glass windows and blackened the interior of the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in the French city of Nantes.
Nantes prosecutor Pierre Sennes said the unidentified 39-year-old Rwandan asylum seeker was a volunteer at the cathedral and was tasked with locking up when he lit three fires: two in the cathedral organs and one in an electrical box.
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Sennes said the suspect so far “has not elaborated on his motivations.”
In this photo taken on July 18, 2020, a fire brigade works to extinguish the fire at the Gothic Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, in Nantes, western France. (AP Photo / Romain Boulanger, File)
The man was detained for questioning the day after the fire, but was released without charge, Al Jazeera reported. At that moment, the rector of the cathedral told the police “I trust him as I trust all the helpers.”
The suspect was detained for the second time on Saturday based on evidence gathered by forensic police experts and a team of 20 investigators who questioned more than 30 people, Sennes said in a statement. It was then that he reportedly admitted to the crime, the man’s lawyer, Quentin Chabert, confirmed at a press conference on Sunday.
“My client is cooperating,” Chabert said, according to France 24. “It was obviously a relief for him to show, as he would say, his repentance. As a believer, it is important for him to show this effort.”
He was charged with “destruction and fire damage” and could face a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of 150,000 euros ($ 175,000) if convicted, Sennes said.
French authorities detained and charged a repentant church volunteer on Sunday, July 26, 2020 after he told investigators he was responsible for an arson fire that severely damaged a 15th-century Gothic cathedral. (AP Photo / Laetitia Notarianni, File)
The fire broke the main windows between the two towers of the cathedral and destroyed its main organ. Added in the 17th century, the organ was called “soul of the cathedral” by the faithful and survived the French Revolution and the bombing of World War II. The organ also previously survived a severe fire in 1972, which wiped out much of its wooden structures.
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The cathedral itself was built over five centuries and completed in 1891. The fire came just 15 months after another fire devastated Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It will take at least three years for the Nantes cathedral to be fully restored, the chief architect of France’s historical monuments, Pascal Prunet, told Reuters.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
