France adopts new anti-terror bill
Steps taken to arm police with powers to search homes
PARIS: French lawmakers on Tuesday approved tough new anti-terrorism law that gives the police vastly expanded powers to search homes, place people under house arrest and close places of worship.
The bill, passed by France’s lower house of Parliament, makes permanent some of the exceptional measures contained in the state of emergency imposed after the November 2015 Paris attacks. The emergency is set to expire on Nov. 1.
The bill allows the top government official in each of France’s regions to order the closure of mosques, churches or other places of worship for six months if preachers are found to have incited attacks or glorified terrorism.
Investigators will not be required to provide proof of radical preaching or writings. The venue can be closed on the basis of the “ideas and theories” circulated among devotees.
The management of the religious site will have 48 hours to appeal the closure. Non-compliance will carry a three-year prison sentence and fine of €45,000 ($53,000).
The authorities can seal off areas around a place or an event, such as a concert, that they deem vulnerable to attack.
People wanting to enter the area will be subjected to searches by the police or private security guards.
The bill gives the police more powers to carry out stop-and-search operations — one of the most controversial elements which rights groups fear will lead to harassment of ethnic minorities and Muslims.
Under EU border rules, security services can already carry out identity spot checks in border areas and train stations.
The bill expands that to include areas around train stations as well as a vast swathe of territory around international ports and airports, up to a radius of 20 km — a provision that could include a large section of the mainly immigrant Paris suburbs.
The bill allows the interior minister to place suspected militant sympathizers who are not accused of a specific crime under a loose form of house arrest, without the prior approval of a judge.
Under the state of emergency, the individual was confined to his or her home.
The “individual surveillance measures” contained in the bill, which can last up to a year, allows the individuals to go beyond their front door but they must remain with the boundaries of their town or city.