The Lyon prosecutor’s office announced on Tuesday the opening of an investigation for incitement to hatred after a demonstration “of the ultra-right”, Friday, in tribute to the young Lola, killed in Paris, and marked by xenophobic slogans.
The opening of this investigation is carried out “in the extension” of the report made on Monday by the prefect of the Rhône to the public prosecutor of Lyon. It was entrusted to the Departmental Directorate of Public Security of the Rhône, he specifies.
The demonstration, held Friday evening in the center of Lyon, had gathered 100 to 150 people, according to the prefecture. Videos on social networks, in particular on the Twitter account of “Remparts”, had shown people shouting “immigrant murderers”, gathered behind a banner “Justice for Lola, immigration kills”.
Political recovery
The mayor of Lyon, Grégory Doucet, indicated that this rally had been claimed by an activist identifying himself on social networks as a member of “Remparts Lyon”, a structure inheriting from the dissolved far-right association “Génération identitaire” . He had therefore written to President Macron on Monday asking for the “immediate dissolution” of the group.
“This event took place calmly and did not cause any disturbance to public order. Our collective is in no way responsible for the slogans sung. They mark the general fed up of young Lyonnais in the face of insecurity and the carelessness of the municipality”, defended the group “Remparts” in a press release sent Tuesday to 20 minutes. And to add to the attention of the ecological mayor: “You are the first responsible for the insecurity, we will never give in to your pressures”.
The circumstances of the death of Lola, killed in Paris on October 14, and the profile of the suspect, of Algerian nationality and under an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF), have aroused strong criticism on the right and on the far right.
Following several demonstrations, the family of the young girl had demanded on Friday that “immediately cease, and be withdrawn, any use of the name and image of their child for political purposes”.