By: PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD, Associated Press Writer (AP) Paris prosecutors opened an inquiry Tuesday into two young bloggers who urged French youths to riot and revolt against the police, a judicial official said.
The youths, a 16-year-old French teen and an 18-year-old with Ghanian nationality, were detained Monday in the Paris region, said the official.
They were to be placed under investigation, a step short of formal charges, for inciting harm to people and property over the Internet, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because French law bars the disclosure of information from ongoing inquiries. Conviction on the charge could carry a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $52,800 fine.
The blog, called "hardcore," was run by the 18-year-old, and the younger teen posted comments on it, the official said. A 14-year-old was also questioned Monday in the southern city of Aix-en-Provence and was released.
During the rioting, bloggers have posted appeals for calm alongside insults targeting police, threats of more violence and warnings that the unrest will feed support for France's anti-immigration extreme right.
One of the blogs was called "sarkodead" -- a reference to Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, who inflamed passions when he called troublemakers "scum." Both "sarkodead" and "hardcore" were hosted by Skyblog, a branch of the popular Skyrock radio station.
The blogs were taken off line this weekend, and the radio station cooperated with police, judicial officials said.
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