The Paris Public Prosecutor's Office said on Monday it had opened an investigation into claims by high-profile French lawyer Olivier Pardo that there was a contract on his head for defending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Pardo, 66, told French authorities that a former convict, Rudy Terranova, claimed to have been approached by Hezbollah operatives in Senegal to carry out his murder.
The Lebanese-based terror group allegedly wanted to kill Pardo for his work for the Israeli prime minister, against whom the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague has issued an arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes.
Pardo told French-language station CNEWS that after October 7, 2023, he began receiving threats on social media.
"[But] it's one thing to be threatened on social media. It's another to have someone come to you and say, 'I was paid by Hezbollah to assassinate you, but I refused,'" he said.
Pardo said Terranova had served 14 years in prison after being convicted in 2004 of violence driven by Islamist motives. He served as a police informant and was later suspected of involvement in the attempted murder of another lawyer in 2007, according to AFP. However, he was acquitted of that charge.
Pardo noted that Terranova had the sort of criminal profile that would appeal to Hezbollah.
The lawyer said he was waiting for the results of the police investigation. He expressed confidence that the judiciary would determine "whether this is a real or a phantom menace".
"Obviously, I'd prefer not to receive this type of threat," he said, adding: "Nothing will stop me from defending the clients I have, whatever the cost."
According to Le Parisien, which first reported on the story, Terranova was taken into custody last week.
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