- The star polemicist is tried for "public insult of a racial nature" and "public provocation to racial hatred".
- In his speech to the “convention of the right”, Eric Zemmour attacked immigrant “colonizers” and an “Islamization of the street”.
- According to his lawyer, these comments were made in a private setting since entry was by invitation. However, Eric Zemmour's speech was broadcast in full on LCI.
He should have been tried in January, but a strike by lawyers means that the trial had been postponed in May ... in the middle of the coronavirus crisis. This Thursday, no social movement or global pandemic should prevent Eric Zemmour from appearing before the 17th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court. The star polemicist is tried for "public insult of a racial nature" and "public provocation to racial hatred" after remarks against Islam and immigration made on September 28, 2019 during the "convention of the right", a rally organized by relatives of the former Frontist deputy, Marion Maréchal.
In the six extracts from the speech for which he is being pursued, Eric Zemmour attacked immigrant "colonizers" and an "Islamization of the street", affirming in particular that "all our problems aggravated by immigration are aggravated by the Islam ”. In front of a conquered room, the polemist chained the protrusions against this religion, confident in particular to find himself in the ideas of the plotter Renaud Camus, theorist of the "big replacement thesis". "The caïds and their gangs join forces with the imam to bring order to the streets and to consciences, according to the old alliance of the saber and the brush, in this case, the kalach and the djellaba", had he notably declared that day.
A private setting?
Despite the outcry sparked by his speech - described as "nauseating" by the Prime Minister - Eric Zemmour had maintained, a few days later, his words. "This hearing will demonstrate that we cannot use the press law to silence freedom of expression," said his lawyer, Olivier Pardo, told 20 Minutes . According to counsel, the polemicist expressed himself in a “private setting” since entries to the convention were made only by invitation. A significant distinction since insult like provocation, held in a private circle, is a contravention.
If the public was actually not invited to this great raid, the "convention of the right" had nevertheless been widely covered by journalists and the speech of Eric Zemmour broadcast in its entirety by the chain LCI. "He is not responsible for the presence of journalists in the room and did not know that he was filmed," insists his lawyer. At the time, the chain's management had recognized an "error of assessment". A month later, the Superior council of audio-visual (CSA) - which received more than 400 reports - had "firmly warned" LCI for this episode.
Proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights
In September 2019 already, just a few days before the controversy, Eric Zemmour had been definitively sentenced to a fine of 3,000 euros for provoking religious hatred following comments made in 2016 on the France 5 C broadcast to you . The author of French Destiny had notably affirmed that France had been living "for 30 years an invasion", assuring that "in innumerable French suburbs where many young girls are veiled" there was a "struggle to Islamize a territory", " a jihad ”. In December he seized the European Court of Human Rights, accusing France of having violated his freedom of expression. In 2011, he was also convicted of hate speech by declaring on Canal + that "most of the traffickers are black and Arab".
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Eric Zemmour's speech on LCI: The trial of the polemicist accused of “hate provocation” postponed
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- Racism
- Eric zemmour
- Paris
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