Three minors were placed in police custody on Wednesday in Orléans following the online sharing of a video featuring students at the François Villon high school in Beaugency singing lyrics referencing Mohamed Merah and Salah Abdeslam, according to leprogres.fr.
Essential Facts Regarding the Orléans Investigation
- Three minors were taken into custody in Orléans on Wednesday as part of a preliminary investigation into terrorist glorification (apologie du terrorisme).
- The investigation stems from a video shared on social media showing students singing a song by rapper BORO 700 referencing Mohamed Merah and Salah Abdeslam.
The Video and School Grounds Incident at Beaugency
The preliminary investigation opened by the Orléans public prosecutor’s office centers on events that unfolded on Thursday within the enclosure of the François Villon high school in Beaugency, situated in the Loiret department. The lyrics specifically invoked Mohamed Merah—who carried out the 2012 killings of a teacher and three children at a Jewish school in Toulouse—and Salah Abdeslam, a jihadist convicted for his role in the November 13, 2015 Paris attacks.
The digital footprint of the incident quickly expanded when European Parliament member Matthieu Valet published the footage on X on Monday. Alongside sharing the clip, Valet publicly stated that he was reporting the behavior immediately to the public prosecutor, bringing wider attention to the classroom-adjacent protest.
Prosecutorial Action and Police Custody in Orléans
The legal response moved rapidly at the regional level following the digital circulation of the footage. Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren, the prosecutor in Orléans, detailed the institutional measures in an official statement cited by leprogres.fr. The offenses targeted are those of glorification of terrorism, in connection with the words of a song taken up
on Thursday by high school students within the grounds of a school in Beaugency,
Bochenek-Puren affirmed.
Following the formal opening of the preliminary inquiry on Tuesday, the investigation yielded immediate enforcement steps on Wednesday. Orléans authorities placed three minors in police custody as law enforcement works to establish the exact chain of events and individual participation surrounding the public glorification of acts of terror.
| Key Element | Details Recorded |
|---|---|
| Location of Incident | François Villon high school, Beaugency (Loiret) |
| Legal Status | Preliminary inquiry opened Tuesday; three minors in custody Wednesday |
| Named Figures in Song | Mohamed Merah and Salah Abdeslam |
| Initial Public Alert | Shared on X by European Parliament member Matthieu Valet on Monday |
Outstanding Inquiries Into the Orléans Inquiry
While the parquet d’Orléans confirmed the arrests of the three minors and the operational timeline of the preliminary investigation, several details regarding the broader scope of the case remain unaddressed in current public statements. Authorities have not yet disclosed whether additional students will face questioning, nor has there been official clarification regarding the specific legal steps or administrative sanctions the François Villon high school intends to implement. The ongoing inquiry led by Prosecutor Emmanuelle Bochenek-Puren continues to examine the circumstances under which the song was popularized and disseminated among the minors involved.
