French prosecutors have charged the man, a Rwandan refugee, with arson. He had been questioned and released earlier in the investigation.
A Rwandan refugee who volunteered at the 15th-century cathedral in Nantes, France, has confessed to setting a fire that severely damaged the interior of the church this month, his lawyer said on Sunday. The Rwandan man, who is 39 and whose name was not made public, was arrested on Sunday after the police said they had acquired unspecified new forensic evidence. He had been questioned and released earlier in the investigation. “My client is relieved to have told the truth,” the man’s lawyer, Quentin Chabert, said during a news conference on Sunday. He added that his client “regretted his act” but did not give any motive. The fire broke out at the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in the early hours of July 18, and the French authorities quickly opened an arson investigation, saying that three starting points for the blaze had been found inside the building and that there were no signs of a break-in.
