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Norwegian neo-Nazi set to sue France

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
Norwegian neo-Nazi set to sue France
Kristian 'Varg' Vikernes, pictured in 1999 and Camouflaged vehicles outside his home in Corrèzes, central France. He was released on Thursday. Photos: AFP/Patrick Bernar

Norwegian neo-Nazi Kristian 'Varg' Vikernes is planning to sue France for falsely arresting him in July on suspicion of planning "a major terrorist attack". He was realeased without charge after police found no evidence to back up their suspicions.

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"We want to sue the authorities for arresting us for no good reason whatsoever, doing so in the most brutal way possible and with children present," he wrote on his blog, Thulean Perspectives. 
 
In the post the 40-year-old called on his followers to contribute money to fund the action. 
 
"We cannot afford to sue them, and we see no other solution to this than to ask for help from you," he wrote, before providing prospective supporters with an email address with which to contact him for bank details. 
 
Vikernes, a heavy metal musician, was arrested together with his French wife Marie on July 16 on suspicion of planning "a major terrorist act" modelled on that of far-Right extremist Anders Breivik, after French police who had im under surveillance found out that his wife bought several hunting rifles.
 
The interior ministry said at the time of the arrest that Vikernes was "close to the neo-Nazi movement" and could have been preparing a "major terrorist act".

However Interior Minister Manuel Valls later conceded no specific target or project had been identified, but authorities had decided to "act before and not afterwards."

He was released two days after his arrest when the authorities could find no evidence to justify bringing charges against him. 
 
In the blog he complained that the authorities had yet to return either his firearms or his ceremonial weaponry, including "decorative swords, my helmet, two spears, my wife’s flint knives, and all sorts of other things too, most of them with great affection value". 
 
In May 1994, Vikernes was sentenced to 21 years in prison for murdering the guitarist of a rival band and setting fire to churches. He moved to France on his release in early 2009, where he settled with his wife and children. 
 
He complained in his blog that his wife Marie had a "crime record as white as snow" and so should be permitted to own firearms. 
 
"I have a record in Norway but I have never done anything criminal in France, and I can own weapons even in Norway if I want to," he added. 
 
On the day of his arrest, the media made much of Vikernes's connections to Breivik, who sent him a copy of his manifesto on the day he mounted his attacks in Oslo in 2011, but Vikernes, a pagan, has in the past been critical of Breivik's self-identificiation with Christianity and his support for Israel. 
 
Richard Orange ([email protected])
 
This story first appeared in the The Local Norway
 

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