Fez – French far-right politician and journalist, Eric Zemmour, went to court on November 17 on charges of inciting hatred in the French community. Zemmour, who is considering running for presidential elections, made racist comments in September 2020, stating that immigrants and Islam are destroying France.
As a political pundit for the French CNews TV channel in 2019, Zemmour made shocking remarks in September 2020. He described unaccompanied migrant children as “they are thieves, they are murderers, they are rapists, that’s all they are.”
Civil plaintiff organizations, including SOS Racisme, filed a complaint against Zemmour. SOS Racisme’s lawyer Patrick Klugman said that the comments are “absolutely intolerable” and imply that “any isolated minor is a potential criminal who comes to France to commit crimes.”
CNews owner, Maxime Saada, will be on trial alongside Eric Zemmour, as the broadcaster of the statements, according to French outlet Midi Libre.
Zemmour was found guilty in French courts on several previous occasions. In 2010, he was accused of inciting racial hatred after justifying discrimination against Black and Arabs. For his Islamophobic comments, the controversial pundit was charged with inciting hatred against Islam and Muslims.
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The 63 year-old journalist did not attend the trial hearing. His lawyer Olivier Pardo said Zemmour does not want to make the court a “political arena.” Padro described the charges as “unfounded” and alleged they were politically motivated and originated from opponents of the potential presidential candidate, to provoke a “trial by public opinion.”
Zemmour was scheduled to deliver a speech on November 19 at the Royal Institute’s headquarters, which promotes research and science, in Albemarle Street near Piccadilly. But the Royal Institute canceled the event two days before the speech, apparently in a move related to the journalist’s controversial background.
In February 2019, Zemmour provoked anger in some Franco-Moroccan figures with his Islamophobic claims. He said that he considers “migrants coming here [France] from Morocco” as “champions of terrorism and anti-Semitism.”
Previously in September, Zemmour threatened that if elected, he would outlaw non-French first names such as Mohammed, claiming that Arab first names and other features of Arab culture make French society less French.
