It was July 18, 2020, fifteen months after the fire that ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris. The flames caused significant destruction to the cathedral of Nantes. The trial of the alleged arsonist,...Fire at Nantes Cathedral: Rwandan volunteer on trial The fire that broke out on Saturday, July 18, 2020 in the cathedral of Nantes had destroyed stained glass windows and art objects, including the great organ. AP Photo/Laetitia Notarianni Text by: RFI Follow 1 min It was July 18, 2020, fifteen months after the fire that ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris. The flames caused significant destruction to the

Fire at Nantes Cathedral: Rwandan volunteer on trial

The fire that broke out on Saturday, July 18, 2020 in the cathedral of Nantes had destroyed stained glass windows and art objects, including the great organ. AP Photo/Laetitia Notarianni

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

It was July 18, 2020, fifteen months after the fire that ravaged Notre-Dame de Paris. The flames caused significant destruction to the cathedral of Nantes. The trial of the alleged arsonist, a 42-year-old Rwandan national described as psychologically fragile, is held this Wednesday, March 29 at the judicial court of Nantes.

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The fire had caused considerable damage, destroying stained glass windows, paintings of masters or the four-hundred-year-old organ, whose pipes, melting, had also contaminated the building with lead.

Suspicions had quickly turned to Emmanuel Abayisenga, a volunteer sacristan in charge of closing the cathedral, who had confessed. After several months of pre-trial detention, the Rwandan was conditionally released.

Murder case under investigation

He had been welcomed into a congregation of missionaries, whose father superior was found murdered on August 9, 2021. The next day, Emmanuel Abayisenga went to the gendarmerie to accuse himself of the crime.

This murder case is still under investigation. This Wednesday, March 29, it is only on the fire component that the forty-year-old must appear, for "destruction" and "degradation of the property of others".

According to his lawyer, although he is still "very fragile psychologically", "weakened by detention" and "anguished by the upcoming hearing", Emmanuel Abayisenga "wishes to explain himself, especially vis-à-vis the Christian community who have supported him a lot since his arrival in France, and to whom he asks forgiveness".

It is dizzying for him to confront the act itself, but also the sums necessary for repairs, which he obviously does not have the means to pay " adds Meriem Abkoui. Between the restoration of the building and its lead remediation, the cost of the work is estimated at some 30 million euros.

► Read also: Fire in the cathedral of Nantes: the confession of a Rwandan volunteer

Fire at Nantes Cathedral: Rwandan volunteer on trial

Fire at Nantes Cathedral: Rwandan volunteer on trial

Murder case under investigation

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