Five anti-migrant Britons banned from appearing in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais

They are aged 30 to 46 years old. Five Britons, arrested Thursday in Dunkirk and suspected of violence against migrants, were banned from appearing in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais for six months for carrying weapons, the prosecution informed AFP this Sunday.

When they were arrested, the five men were in possession of tear gas and pepper bombs, a stick and a baton in particular, category D weapons whose transport is illegal, detailed Dunkirk public prosecutor Charlotte Huet.

Belonging to “the ultra-right movement”, they were traveling along the coast aboard a minibus that they themselves had nicknamed “The Battle Bus” and broadcast live on a social network images of intimidation against migrants, the Northern prefecture announced on Saturday.

Obligation to pay 500 euros to associations

Their arrival in France had been reported to the public prosecutor's office by an association which had accused them of "violence against people in an irregular situation", but the investigation "did not make it possible to characterize acts of violence", specified the prosecutor.

At the end of their police custody, these activists were presented to a judge who ordered alternative measures to prosecution: a ban on appearing for six months in the Nord and Pas-de-Calais, obligation to hand over the seized weapons and to pay 500 euros each to a victims' aid association.