Podcast: Fighting drug crime, France's military service, (re)wrapping the Pont Neuf

About this episode

The episode discusses France's challenges with drug-related organized crime, the introduction of a new military service, and the artistic wrapping of the Pont Neuf.

What France can learn from Italy's fight against the mafia as it tackles its growing problem with drug-related organised crime. A look at France's new military service. And wrapping Paris's oldest bridge, 40 years after it was transformed by artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. The recent murder in Marseille of 20-year-old Mehdi Kessaci , the younger brother of a well-known anti-drugs campaigner, has highlighted the growing problem of drug-related organised crime in France. The government has promised tougher repressive measures, but what if civil society also had a role to play? Inspired by the example of Italy, the Crim'HALT association campaigns for the official recognition of victims of organised crime. Its co-founder, Fabrice Rizzoli , talks about taking ordinary citizens to see firsthand how Italian anti-mafia initiatives work. Jean-Toussaint Plasenzotti, who founded the anti-mafia collective Massimu Susini following the murder of his nephew in 2019 in Corsica, and Hassna Arabi , whose relative Socayna was killed by a stray bullet in 2023, explain how travelling to Italy with Crim-HALT has helped their work back home. (Listen @0') As Europe looks to increase its defence…

People in this episode

Guests: Fabrice Rizzoli, Jean-Toussaint Plasenzotti, Hassna Arabi

Topics covered

• drug crime
• military service
• organized crime
• civil society
• anti-mafia initiatives
• France-Italy relations

Keywords

• drug-related crime
• military service
• organized crime
• anti-mafia
• civil society
• France
• Italy
• Emmanuel Macron
• Pont Neuf

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Crim'HALT, Massimu Susini

Books & works: Pont Neuf

Places: France, Italy, Marseille, Corsica, Ukraine, Russia

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