France detains man after bodies in River Seine raise fears of 'homophobic' murders

Police in France have detained a man on suspicion of murder after four male bodies were found in the River Seine on the outskirts of Paris, amid concerns that the killings may have been motivated by homophobia.

The suspect — who was described as a homeless man in his 20s — appeared at a judicial court on Sunday, according to a statement by the Creteil prosecutor's office.

He is being investigated for multiple counts of murder in relation to the four victims. Prosecutors have requested that the suspect be charged and put in protective custody.

The four bodies were discovered on 13 August in Choisy-Le-Roi, a southeastern suburb of the French capital. A passerby raised the alarm after seeing a body floating in the river, and police later found three more bodies nearby, French media reported.

The riverbank site is known for casual same-sex encounters, and the suspect had been seen in the area frequently, prosecutors said.

Two of the victims were from Algeria, both aged 21, one from Tunisia, 26, and one from France, aged 48, according to the authorities.

One of the Algerians and the Tunisian victim were homeless. There is no evidence of a link between the victims, prosecutors said.

French police are investigating the possibility that the murders were homophobic in nature, Le Monde newspaper reported.

Campaign group Stop Homophobie has launched an appeal for witnesses, saying: "We cannot ignore the homophobic dimension that is already evident in this case".

"It is essential to shed full light on the motives behind these crimes. Otherwise, the justice system would punish the perpetrator without understanding the root causes of this violence," Etienne Deshoulières, the group's lawyer, said in a statement on Sunday.