BELGRADE: Serbian prosecutors said Tuesday they had questioned 11 people who had been arrested over hate-motivated acts in France and Germany, including defacing Jewish sites and placing pig heads near mosques.

The 11 people, whose arrests were announced on Monday, were allegedly trained by another suspect, "acting under the instructions of a foreign intelligence service" who is "currently on the run", the interior ministry said earlier.

Rising anti-Muslim hatred

Nine heads of pigs, considered impure in Islam, were found in early September outside mosques in Paris and the surrounding region, sparking outrage and alarm over rising-anti-Muslim hatred.

In late April, the Holocaust Memorial, three synagogues and a restaurant in Paris were defaced with green paint.

Three Serbs have since been charged and jailed in France as part of the investigation.

On Tuesday, the group of 11, identified by their initials only, were questioned at the Higher Public Prosecutor's Office in Smederevo, the office said in a statement to AFP.

They were arrested on suspicion of associating to "commit criminal offences of racial and other discrimination and espionage", the statement added.

Remanded in custody

After the questioning, during which eight suspects presented their defense while three remained silent, the prosecutors proposed that nine of them be remanded in custody for up to 30 days.

They cited as the reason the risk of flight, the possibility of obstructing judicial proceedings by influencing accomplices and witnesses, and the likelihood of repeating the offence within a short period of time.

For the remaining two suspects, the prosecutors proposed that they be put under house arrest.

An investigating judge is to decide on the prosecutor's proposal.

Monday's arrests took place in the Serbian capital Belgrade, and in Velika Plana, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the south.

Articles tagged with "French mosques"

Serbian prosecutors question 11 people held for placing pigs' heads at French mosques