Four men — three of whom are reportedly from Daghestan — have been arrested in France on suspicion of plotting an assassination attempt against a ‘Russian dissident’ living in the country.
French media outlets Le Figaro and Le Parisien, citing the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor’s Office (PNAT), reported that the alleged target was human rights activist and founder of the project Gulagu.net, Vladimir Osechkin.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the suspects were detained on Monday with the assistance of the General Directorate for Internal Security (DGSI), France’s domestic intelligence agency. The men are between 26 and 38 years old, and one of them holds French citizenship.
Le Figaro wrote that all four were arrested in south-western France, near the coastal city of Biarritz, where Osechkin resides. Although French authorities have not officially confirmed the intended target, both Le Parisien and Le Figaro cited sources naming Osechkin.
Osechkin confirmed to the Agence France-Presse (AFP) that, according to his information, he was the intended victim of the foiled plot. Speaking to reporters, he thanked the French police for preventing the attack and arresting the suspects.
‘I am grateful to the French security services for their professionalism and for stopping the criminals before something irreversible could happen’, he said.
According to Le Figaro, the detained men have denied any wrongdoing, claiming they had travelled to Biarritz ‘for a holiday’. However, investigators suspect they were conducting surveillance near Osechkin’s home. Video footage taken in the vicinity of his residence was reportedly found on their mobile phones.
In a statement, the Prosecutor’s Office said a criminal case had been opened on charges of ‘participation in a terrorist conspiracy with the aim of preparing one or more crimes against a person’.
The investigation began in mid-September after intelligence services received information about a possible threat against ‘an opponent of Vladimir Putin living in Biarritz’. According to AFP, the alleged plot was thwarted ‘at the last moment’.
Osechkin has lived in France since 2015, having fled Russia after several criminal cases were opened against him. Since 2022, he has been under constant police protection following repeated death threats.
He is best known as the founder of Gulagu.net, a human rights project established in 2011 to expose torture and abuse in Russian prisons and penal colonies. In 2021, the project’s website was blocked in Russia after it published footage from a prison tuberculosis hospital in Saratov showing torture and sexual violence against inmates. The videos led to 12 criminal cases being opened by Russia’s Investigative Committee, and the Head of the Federal Penitentiary Service, Aleksandr Kalashnikov, was dismissed amidst the scandal.
In Russia, Osechkin faces several criminal prosecutions. In 2023, a court sentenced him in absentia to eight years in prison for allegedly spreading ‘fakes’ about the Russian army. Later, investigators opened another case accusing him of ‘justifying terrorism’. The Russian Justice Ministry has designated Osechkin a ‘foreign agent’.
Osechkin has previously claimed to have survived an assassination attempt in France. In 2022, he said he noticed a red laser dot on the wall of his home in Biarritz before hearing several gunshots. He stated that his ‘lightning-fast reaction’ and the ‘hitman’s mistakes’ saved his life. However, he provided no evidence, and French prosecutors later closed the investigation. The Russian independent media outlet Project reported that the police may have considered the alleged incident a hoax.
French investigators have not ruled out that the suspects may have acted on instructions from abroad, though no further details have been disclosed. Representatives of the prosecutor’s office told AFP that the case is being handled ‘in strict accordance with international counterterrorism protocols’.
OC Media
