French Refinery Arsonist Sentenced to 15 Years in Prison

A former journalist with anti-American sentiments received a 15-year prison sentence in France Wednesday for offenses that include a July 2015 fire at a LyondellBasell refinery in Berre-l'Etang that caused more than $20 million dollars in damage.

Mathieu Boasso, 38, told the court his actions between 2012 and 2016 were intended to warn France about the “warlike will” of American foreign policy, press accounts state.

In addition, Boasso stands convicted of using explosives in an attack on a cured salt factory in Tarare and in the robbery of six automated teller machines. The sentence also includes armed robberies at an explosives manufacturer and two quarries to obtain bomb-making materials.

Boasso confessed to placing explosives on three storage tanks at Berre-l'Etan, only two of which triggered fires when detonated. Firefighters extinguished the burning tanks, containing gasoline and naphtha, within several hours.

However, the resulting soil and water pollution took several years to resolve, prosecutors stressed in court.

Investigation suggests that Boasso acted alone, prosecutors said.