A photograph of three French paratroopers making Nazi salutes in front of a Nazi flag triggered an investigation.
Two of the men on active duty were detained March 28 by the French Ministry of Defense. The third is no longer enlisted. The incriminating photograph made headlines Wednesday when it was published in the French satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine. The weekly also reported that Sgt. Jamel Benserhir wrote letters since 2006 reporting the paratroopers’ actions, but his complaints went ignored. Similarly, in February, three French police officers made Nazi salutes and shouted “Sieg Heil,” as well as other racist and anti-Semitic slurs, in a northern France pub.
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