French mayor鈥檚 house torched amid tensions over asylum seeker centre
The attack in a town near Nantes has been branded cowardly and unacceptable
The mayor of Saint-Brevin-Les-Pins鈥檚 property after a blaze on Wednesday morning
Screenshot / Yannick Morez / Mairie de Saint-Brevin-les-Pins
A criminal inquiry has been opened after a French mayor had his house torched allegedly for his support for an asylum seeker reception centre.
Yannick Morez - mayor of Saint-Brevin-Les-Pins, west of Nantes - said the attack on his home was 鈥渃owardly and unacceptable鈥�.
His property was damaged and two cars were destroyed in the blaze, which happened around 5 am on Wednesday (March 22).
Mr Morez thanked neighbours for alerting him to the blaze, which he said had avoided 鈥渕ore dramatic consequences鈥� for him and his wife.
Sylvie Canovas-Lagarde, the prosecutor for Saint-Nazaire, said a criminal inquiry had been opened.
A fire expert had visited the house on Wednesday morning and, in first conclusions, ruled out it was an accidental blaze, added Ms Canovas-Lagarde.
The Association des maires de France (AMF) shared their support for Mr Morez over the attack.
Mr Morez was among those supporting an asylum seeker reception centre in Saint-Brevin-Les-Pins.
The mayor said he and other supporters of the project had been threatened 鈥� especially on social media 鈥� over their positions.
At a recent council meeting, a motion of support was adopted for those suffering 鈥渁cts of intimidation on the part of opponents of the project and their extremist supporters鈥�.
Last month, there were clashes between supporters and opponents of the project at a march in the town.
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