Assistant to hard-left parliamentarian among those held over fatal attack on 23-year-old during protest in Lyon
French authorities have arrested 11 suspects over the killing last week of a far-right activist, including an assistant to a hard-left member of parliament, a prosecutor and an informed source said.
Quentin Deranque, 23, died after sustaining a severe brain injury when he was attacked by at least six people on the sidelines of a far-right protest against a leftwing politician speaking at a university in the south-eastern city of Lyon.
The incident has fuelled tension between France’s far right and hard left before municipal elections in March and the 2027 presidential race, in which the far-right National Rally (RN) party is seen as having its best chance yet of winning.
The Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran announced the arrests of nine suspects on Tuesday evening. Two more suspects were arrested on Wednesday, a man suspected of having a direct link to the violence and his partner, who is suspected of having helped him evade justice, Dran said .
