PARIS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2023) Rwandan Emmanuel Abayisenga, who set fire to the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul in the western French city of Nantes in July 2020, has been sentenced to four years in prison, French media reported on Thursday.
A court noted the "careful and methodical" nature of Abayisenga's actions, but acknowledged that he had mental problems, the France Bleu radio reported.
The report added that the convict is prohibited from staying in the Loire-Atlantique department, where the city of Nantes is located, for five years.
Abayisenga is also awaiting trial for the murder of a priest in 2021, AFP reported.
The fire in Nantes Cathedral occurred in July 2020. As a result of the fire, the large organ of the cathedral was completely destroyed. The law enforcement agencies detained a native of Rwanda, who was a volunteer in the cathedral. He later confessed to the arson.
In August 2021, Abayisenga came to the police and confessed to the murder of a Catholic priest in France's western department of Vendee. He was immediately taken into custody but then placed in a psychiatric hospital.
