French Senate worker faces treason charges over North Korea

PARIS – A judicial official says that a French Senate employee has been handed preliminary charges for treason for allegedly collecting and delivering information to North Korea.

The official said Friday that an investigating judge placed Benoit Quennedey under investigation for treason a day earlier. Quennedey was detained Sunday by agents of France’s domestic intelligence agency in the probe, which began in March. The official wasn’t authorized to speak publicly and asked to remain anonymous.

Quennedey was suspended Tuesday from his job as chief administrator for Architecture, Patrimony and Gardens at the Senate while the investigation continues. He headed the French-Korean Friendship Association, and travelled numerous times to the Koreas.

The official said he was freed but placed under judicial control and forbidden to leave France.