The wonders of diversity and multiculturalism enriched Switzerland in a beautiful manner Saturday night.
“Man arrested for terrorism threats after Arena evacuation,” translated from “Un homme arrêté pour menaces terroristes après l’évacuation de l’Arena,” RTS, February 26, 2023:
A man was arrested after the evacuation of the Arena concert hall on Saturday evening in Geneva, where the French rapper Lomepal was to perform, the Geneva public prosecutor said on Sunday. He had made terrorist threats online.
The 40-year-old individual had been reported by the French authorities. He is the author of a message on a social network that can be understood as “the threat of a terrorist act,” said the spokesperson for the Geneva Public Prosecutor’s Office Olivier Francey in a brief written communication. According to information from RTS, the man has links with jihadist networks.
This man must be questioned on Sunday by the duty prosecutor. He is accused in the state of having uttered threats alarming the population, said Olivier Francey, adding that no other information will be given.
Saturday evening, Lomepal had sold out, with nearly 8,500 people coming to attend his concert. But the successful rapper would never take the stage. After a first part without a hitch, the public awaits its star… but nothing. For more than an hour, no information. Then the announcement falls: “The concert is cancelled.”
Spectators are asked to leave the hall quietly. But according to several testimonies, the confusion then spreads to the Arena. Access to changing rooms is particularly difficult. People are rushing to collect their belongings. Finally, some take nearly 30 minutes to leave the hall. Outside, they discover a large police force.
Vans, fire trucks, demining brigade: the sector is cordoned off.
“We received information that a threat was targeting the concert. For precautionary reasons, it was decided to evacuate the premises and to carry out a search,” indicated in the night from Saturday to Sunday the spokesperson of the Geneva cantonal police Tiffany Cudré-Mauroux.
For Lomepal fans, more fear than harm. As a consolation, a concert was improvised on the return train.