Fiche S

In France, a fiche S (English: S card) is an indicator used by law enforcement to flag an individual considered to be a serious threat to national security. The S stands for Sûreté de l'État ("state security"). It is the highest level of such a warning in France; it allows surveillance but is not cause for arrest. There have been some 400,000 individuals assigned a fiche S since 1969. These continue to include gangsters, prison escapees, and ecologists (that are anarchists, anti-nuclear campaigners, etc.), as well as suspected Islamic extremists. Suspects flagged with fiche S have included those who have looked at jihadist websites or met radicals outside mosques, to those considered highly dangerous.