French police officer charged with helping jihadists join Isis

A French police officer who is suspected of being an Isis supporter has been charged for allegedly helping jihadists travel to the Middle East and join terrorist organisations.

The policeman was arrested on 27 June in the Parisian suburb of Kremlin-Bicêtre, where he was stationed, and has been charged with "conspiracy and fraud in connection with a terrorist group".

He is suspected of having helped his brother recruit jihadists to a terrorist cell. His brother has been in prison for a year after his links with Isis fighters in Syria and Iraq were revealed.

France's intelligence services believe that the officer used his position to view confidential police files, according to local media. He has been accused of expressing adherence to Isis ideology and of using fake documents to recover parcels.

Following his arrest, he was placed under judicial supervision and prohibited from carrying a weapon.

This is not the only case of radicalisation in the French police force.

Between 2012 and 2015 17 officers in Paris demonstrated suspicious behaviour that concerned their superiors, according to a leaked police memo obtained by French newspaper Le Parisien. One officer on the list had called for murder on his Facebook page.

When the memo came out, Paris' police chief, Patrice Latro, acknowledged that "phenomenon of radicalisation in the police force exists" but insisted that it was "extremely marginal", considering the French capital has more than 27,000 police officers.