A Deliveroo delivery man (illustration).

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Philippe LOPEZ / AFP

  • The delivery man Deliveroo who had refused to deliver Jews was sentenced to 4 months in prison by the Strasbourg Criminal Court.

  • Last Thursday, he had turned down orders at two kosher restaurants.

  • This 19-year-old Algerian is also subject to an obligation to leave French territory.

The affair had caused a real scandal in Strasbourg and in the rest of France.

Last Thursday, a Deliveroo delivery man refused to take orders at two kosher restaurants.

Its justification?

"I do not deliver the Jews," he told two restaurant owners.

The man, a 19-year-old Algerian, was sentenced Thursday to four months in prison by the Strasbourg Criminal Court for discrimination based on religion.

“All discrimination is prohibited in France by law.

We must respect everyone in this country, ”insisted the president of the court Bertrand Gautier, rendering the decision which is accompanied by a warrant of committal and complies with the requisitions of the prosecution.

Judged in immediate appearance, the young man, who arrived in France with a tourist visa about a year ago and now illegally present in the territory, is also subject to an obligation to leave French territory.

The Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, declared on Twitter to have "taken the decision to have (him) expelled from the national territory".

I made the decision to expel from the national territory the "delivery man" of meals who, in the Bas-Rhin, had declared not wanting to make deliveries to Jewish customers.

He was also sentenced to 4 months.

- Gérald DARMANIN (@GDarmanin) January 14, 2021

At the end of last week, two restaurant owners from Strasbourg lodged a complaint, after being canceled Thursday evening the handling of their orders by a Deliveroo delivery man, when they had indicated to him, at his request, that their establishments were cooking. Israeli.

At the hearing, one of the restaurateurs reaffirmed that this delivery man, who was using another's Deliveroo account in an undeclared manner, had told him: "I do not deliver the Jews", before canceling the order in front of him. him.

Has Deliveroo been that cooperative?

Helped by an interpreter, the delivery man admitted to having canceled the orders, as the Deliveroo platform allows to do, but not to have pronounced this sentence.

The lawyer for the two restaurateurs, Me Raphaël Nisand, said at the end of the hearing that "justice has spoken well", but nevertheless regretted that Deliveroo was not concerned by legal action.

While Deliveroo said Monday to take "this incident very seriously", the president of the court told the hearing that the company had been "not particularly cooperative or very reactive" with the police to identify this delivery man, who used one person's platform access and had their delivery money transferred to a third person's account.

"We are relieved by the outcome of this investigation, which made it possible to identify the author of these heinous facts, thanks to the close cooperation of Deliveroo with the police services", for her part affirmed the general manager of Deliveroo , Melvina Sarfati El Grably.

The company said it had "taken the irrevocable decision to put an end to our partnership with the account holder, for serious breach", the latter having "in fact illegally lent his account to the perpetrator, a practice that we condemn ”.

The delivery man was also ordered to pay 1,000 euros to each of the restaurateurs as moral damages, as well as damages to SOS Racisme Alsace, to Mrap, to Licra Bas-Rhin, to the National Office for Vigilance Against Antisemitism (BNVCA), to the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (Crif) and to the Israelite Consistory of the Bas-Rhin, which had brought civil proceedings.

"The hand of the judges did not tremble in the face of anti-Semitism", rejoiced the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra) on Twitter.

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