Journalist in Paris court next week for flying drone

Paris: One of three Al-Jazeera journalists arrested for flying a drone in Paris will appear in court next week after pleading guilty, a judicial source said on Thursday.

The other two journalists have been freed. All three were arrested on Wednesday for flying a drone in the Bois de Boulogne park on the western edge of the French capital.

Their arrest followed two nights of mysterious drone sightings over the French capital, although a source with knowledge of the case said the journalists were not involved in the earlier incidents.

Those unexplained sightings were made near the US embassy, not far from the Invalides military museum, the Eiffel Tower and several major thoroughfares leading in and out of the French capital, police said.

Flying drones over the capital is illegal under French law. In October, a 24-year-old Israeli tourist spent a night in jail and was slapped with a 400-euro ($450) fine for flying one above the Notre Dame cathedral.

The journalist facing court is a 34-year-old British citizen working for Al-Jazeera´s international service, who received the drone from the station´s London bureau in November.

He was piloting the aircraft. The other two were freelancers aged 52 and 68, one British and one Belgian, who were helping to film a segment on drones.

The unmanned aircraft has been confiscated by the authorities. (AFP)