Al Jazeera journalists arrested after flying drone in Paris

(Image credit: Aurelien Meunier/Getty Images)

published 25 February 2015

French authorities arrested three members of an Al Jazeera news crew on Wednesday for flying a drone without a license, but they are still trying to determine who is behind illegal nighttime drone flights over sensitive locations and landmarks across Paris.

The city prosecutor's office said the journalists were detained by police when they were found operating a drone in the Bois de Boulogne woods. In a statement, Al Jazeera said the trio were filming a report on the mysterious drone flights, the Los Angeles Times reports. Flying a drone below 6,000 meters is prohibited without a license, and violators can face a year in prison and an $85,000 fine. At night, all drones are banned from the skies.

French media has reported that drones have been sighted at night over the Eiffel Tower, the Place de la Concorde, nuclear plants, military installations, and the home of French President Francois Hollande. Despite beefed up security since the Charlie Hebdo attack in January, officials have not been able to identify who is operating the drones or why. Government spokesman Stephane Le Foll said on Wednesday that they are not a security risk. "There is nothing to worry about," he said.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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