The Paris Criminal Court renders its judgment on Monday afternoon against the far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, tried in his absence in November for having described unaccompanied minor migrants on CNews as “thieves”, “murderers “, “rapists”.
Believing that the polemicist had been guilty of incitement to hatred and racial insult, the prosecution requested a penalty of 100 day-fine to 100 euros, or 10,000 euros fine with the possibility of imprisonment in case of non-payment. .
The candidate for the supreme office, who had shunned the hearing on November 17, will not be present Monday before the 17th correctional chamber for the reading of the judgment, scheduled for 1:30 p.m., told AFP his lawyer, Olivier Pardo, who asked for release.
Already prosecuted on numerous occasions for racial insult, incitement to hatred or contestation of crimes against humanity, Eric Zemmour was this time summoned to appear by the prosecution for his remarks on unaccompanied minor migrants.
On September 29, 2020, during a debate in the program “Face à l’info” on CNews after an attack in front of the former locals of Charlie Hebdo, the polemicist affirmed: “They have nothing to do here, they are thieves, they are murderers, they are rapists, that’s all they are, they have to be fired and they must not even come”.
“It’s a permanent invasion”, “it’s a problem of immigration policy”, he then vociferated in this program of which he was a columnist.
“Contemptuous, outrageous remarks” which show “a violent rejection” and a “hate” of the immigrant population and which have crossed “the limits of freedom of expression”, had estimated the representative of the public prosecutor’s office.
“There is not an ounce of racism in Eric Zemmour” who only says “the reality”, sometimes in a “brutal way, with his words”, had supported Me Olivier Pardo, evoking “a political position”.
For the council, the citation for incitement to racial hatred did not hold: “Unaccompanied minors are neither a race, nor a nation, nor an ethnic group”.
The Paris prosecutor’s office had also requested a fine of 5,000 euros against the publication director of CNews, judged alongside Eric Zemmour as is customary in press trials.
– Another trial on Thursday –
About thirty associations have joined as civil parties, including SOS Racisme, the League of Human Rights (LDH) and the Licra, as well as about twenty departmental councils – unaccompanied minors being cared for by the child welfare, managed by the departments.
In their pleadings, the civil parties insisted on the responsibility of the news channel, whose “hate speech” is “the goodwill”.
The controversial outings of Eric Zemmour, 63, forced to leave CNews in mid-September because of his presidential ambitions, have earned him around fifteen lawsuits over the past ten years.
Several times released, he was sentenced twice for incitement to hatred.
The far-right candidate is to be tried on appeal Thursday for contesting a crime against humanity after having argued in October 2019 on CNews that Marshal Philippe Pétain had “saved” French Jews.
He had been acquitted in February 2021, the court considering that the remarks had been made “off the cuff during a debate on the war in Syria”.
His lawyer will ask for the dismissal of this hearing, less than three months before the first round of the presidential election and “because it is an offense of opinion”, estimates Me Pardo with AFP.
Justice also set a new deadline for Eric Zemmour on Friday: he will be tried in May 2023 for aggravated defamation, for comments made in 2019 on the “feminist movement” and the “LGBT movement”.