A video of a man walking on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and using the flame of remembrance in Paris caused outrage in France.
In a move showing immeasurable disrespect, the man, wearing a white jogging pants and a sweater, was filmed approaching the monument, bypassing the cordon surrounding it, kneeling down and lighting his cigarette while holding a bottle in his hands before walking away.
People surrounding the monument did not react to the act, also triggering many commentators.
The video was filmed by a Latvian tourist during the evening of August 4 and spread like wildfire, enraging many people.
“He didn’t seem to be drunk or under the influence of drugs. On the contrary, he was obviously aware of what he was doing, and proud to have done it,” the woman who presents herself as the creator of the video told newspaper Le Figaro.
Un homme marche sur la Tombe du Soldat inconnu et utilise la flamme pour allumer sa cigarette.
Je n'ai plus les mots, les gens observent sans rien dire… pic.twitter.com/BCa3dXQI2y
— Forces Spéciales Françaises 🌟 (@Fs_francaises_) August 5, 2025
The Minister Delegate in charge of Remembrance and Veterans, Patricia Mirallès, denounced “an act of unacceptable indecency”, and announced that she had taken the matter to court.
“The memory of France cannot be flouted with impunity,” she said.
National Rally MEP and party spokesman Matthieu Valet said that the act “sullies the memory of our soldiers who shed their blood for our freedom. Respect our dead,” he wrote on X.
By the evening of the same day Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau announced that the police had identified the man, and that they had arrested him.
“The man who desecrated the tomb of the Unknown Soldier by lighting a cigarette with the flame of remembrance has been arrested in Paris for violating a grave, tomb, urn or monument erected in memory of the dead. He was placed in police custody and admitted the facts,” Retailleau wrote on X.
“Following the report made by the Prefect of Police (Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure), he will be brought before the courts. This despicable and miserable act undermines the memory of those who died for France.”
French media later reported that the man was a Moroccan named Hamdi Hakim. He was 47 years old and a legal resident of France via a residence permit valid until the end of October 2025.
However, he had no fixed address and was well known to the police, news magazine Valeurs Actuelles reported.
He reportedly had 21 entries in the Judicial Antecedents Processing System (TAJ) for various offenses, including pickpocketing, violence, contempt, resisting arrest, vehicle theft, burglary, theft with violence, and public racial insults.
After an initial denial, he finally quickly admitted the facts at the national monument.
Interior Minister Retailleau announced he would withdraw the residence permit to France of the Moroccan man.
Hakim faces up to a year in prison and a fine of €15,000.
The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is situated under the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and commemorates all soldiers who fell for France throughout history. It was installed on November 11, 1920, to honour the unknown dead of the First World War.
Three years later, in 1923, France added the eternal flame, which is rekindled every evening to symbolise the nation’s perpetual remembrance and gratitude for the sacrifices made by countless soldiers.
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