Twenty-two defendants, including intelligence agents and police, accused of committing crimes on behalf of Freemason mafia

Twenty-two people have gone on trial in France on charges of murder and other serious crimes centred on a masonic lodge accused of running hit squads.

Thirteen defendants – including former intelligence agents, soldiers and businessmen – face possible life sentences. Prosecutors allege the group carried out murder, attempted murder, aggravated assault and criminal conspiracy on behalf of a mafia network inside the Athanor lodge in the Paris suburb of Puteaux.

Exclusive: Organisation accuses Sir Mark Rowley of religious discrimination and ‘whipping up conspiracy theories’

Freemasons have demanded an emergency injunction from the high court to halt the Metropolitan police’s new policy that orders officers to tell their bosses if they are members of the organisation.

The Freemasons filed papers in London on Christmas Eve and claim the Met’s policy amounts to “religious discrimination” against Freemasons who are also police officers.