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Three Al Jazeera Journalists Arrested for Flying Drone in Paris
Visitors wait in the lobby of Al-Jazeera America after the network’s first broadcast on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 in New York. ( AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)\n

Three Al Jazeera Journalists Arrested for Flying Drone in Paris

"Flying drones without a license in France is illegal."

PARIS (AP) — The Paris prosecutors' office says three Al-Jazeera journalists have been arrested for illegally flying a drone.

Visitors wait in the lobby of Al-Jazeera America after the network’s first broadcast on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 in New York. ( AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews) Visitors wait in the lobby of Al-Jazeera America after the network’s first broadcast on Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2013 in New York. ( AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)

It said the three foreign nationals aged 70, 54 and 36 were taken into custody Wednesday afternoon after police spotted the drone flying in the Bois de Boulogne woods in western Paris.

They can be held for a maximum of 24 hours under French law. Flying drones without a license in France is illegal and carries a maximum one-year prison sentence and a €75,000 ($85,000) fine.

The arrests come as unidentified drones flew over the Eiffel Tower and key Paris landmarks five times for a second night running Tuesday night, baffling French authorities. France has ramped up security nationwide after the January terror attacks in Paris that left 20 people dead.

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