The prosecution requested a 10,000 euros fine on Wednesday, with the possibility of imprisonment in the event of non-payment, against Eric Zemmour, tried for insult and provocation of racial hatred after a speech held in September in Paris during of a "Convention of the Right". The trial took place without the 61-year-old polemicist, represented by his lawyer. Asked about this absence, regretted by the court, Me Olivier Pardo argued that "Mr. Zemmour is increasingly the victim of assault" and "that he is not a lawyer, he is an intellectual personality who wants a intellectual debate. Today, the debate is strictly legal. "
A violent rant against Islam and immigration
The court viewed the 32 minutes of the speech held on September 28 in Paris, at the opening of a meeting called "convention of the right" and organized by relatives of Marion Maréchal. Six passages of this violent diatribe against Islam and immigration are pursued by the prosecution: he depicted in particular immigrants "colonizers", describing the veil and the djellaba as "the uniforms of an occupation army".
Unraveling the polemist's "insidious rhetoric", the prosecutor considered that the "offenses were perfectly characterized", asking the court to order the polemist to 100 days fine to 100 euros which, if not paid, become imprisonment and wide publication of the decision "at his expense."
"A penalty is imposed when he crosses the limits set by law"
"Beyond the feeling of hatred and rejection, there is a call, an exhortation to rejection, to discrimination of Muslims as a whole, because all can only be followers of jihad, of violence", a declared the magistrate. The condemnation "must bring the citizens and not only Mr. Zemmour, the opinion, to realize that if he always advances on a thread, that of provocation (...) a sanction is pronounced when he crosses the limits posed by law, "she added.
The words of Eric Zemmour had at the time been widely denounced in the political class and the CSA had received some 3,600 reports. They had also caused a heated debate in the media for which Eric Zemmour worked.
Dozens of associations are civil parties
A dozen anti-racist and anti-discrimination associations are civil parties.
The LCI chain, which had been cited for "complicity" by the association La Maison des potes, was not finally judged on Wednesday, due to a procedural defect. A separate decision will be made in this aspect of the case on September 17.
The defense of Eric Zemmour was to plead in the evening.