Elysée says Macron asked police to adopt new methods against saboteurs

PARIS — The Elysée said on Monday that President Emmanuel Macron asked police to adopt new working methods against people responsible for acts of sabotage, according to two Al Jazeera Telegram channels.

The first post appeared on the Al Jazeera Mubasher channel at 05:26 GMT on 19 October 2026. It was labelled as breaking news. It said the Elysée reported that Macron "asks" police to adopt new working methods against the perpetrators of sabotage.

Al Jazeera Arabic's news channel on Telegram published a similar post at 05:52 GMT. It described the people concerned as those "whom he called" perpetrators of sabotage. The wording suggests Macron used the term himself. The posts do not quote him directly.

What the posts do not say

Both posts are short headlines. They give no further detail, and the channels did not link to a fuller article.

The posts do not say what the new methods are. They do not say which police units or forces are affected. They do not say when the instruction was given or whether it was in a meeting, a statement or a letter.

The posts also do not identify the acts of sabotage Macron was referring to. They give no location, no date for any incident and no information on casualties, damage or arrests. The material does not say whether the Elysée statement was linked to a particular event.

Reaction and verification

The source material contains no reaction from police unions, government ministers, opposition parties or other officials. It includes no statement from the interior ministry.

The information comes only from social media posts. A news outlet's published report or the text of an Elysée statement has not confirmed it. The attribution to the Elysée is as reported by the two channels. Zenga News has not seen the original statement.

The two posts carry nearly identical wording and appear to report the same Elysée announcement. The Mubasher post uses the present tense, "asks". The Al Jazeera Arabic post uses the past tense, "asked". The difference is probably one of phrasing. The material does not show that the two accounts differ on any fact.

Further details are expected to come from the Elysée or the French government. Until they do, the nature and scope of the request remain unclear.