French teacher to face trial for ‘lying’ over IS attack

A Jewish teacher in France is to face trial in April for allegedly lying to police by claiming he was attacked by three Islamic State jihadists, a prosecutor says.

The teacher, Tsion Sylvain Saadoun, is charged with “false accusation of an imaginary crime,” says Brice Robin, prosecutor in the southern city of Marseille.

In November, just days after a devastating IS attack in Paris that left 130 people dead, Saadoun invited press to his home in Marseille, claiming he had been attacked with a knife by three men who said they were tied to IS.

“After a particularly thorough investigation, it emerged that the statements of the so-called victim of an attempted murder were neither backed up by emergency services who intervened, nor by forensic experts,” Robin says.

He says any injuries were believed to be due to “self-mutilation.”

However Saadoun maintains he is telling the truth.

— AFP