His defense warned: “For the serenity of the debates”, Eric Zemmour will not come to the hearing, which opens Wednesday, November 17 at 9:30 a.m., and for which he is summoned because of comments made on the CNews channel, on September 29, 2020, on unaccompanied minors.
The far-right polemicist, who does not hide his presidential ambitions for 2022 but has not yet declared himself a candidate, will be represented by his lawyers “He will not be present, in order to prevent the judicial enclosure from turning into a continuous news TV studio”said Me Olivier Pardo.
Accustomed to controversial outings, Eric Zemmour is this time summoned by the prosecution for “complicity in provocation to racial hatred and racial insult”. During a debate on the program “Face à l’Info” on unaccompanied minors after an attack in front of the former Charlie Hebdo premises, the columnist declared: “They have nothing to do here, they are thieves, they are murderers, they are rapists, that’s all they are, they must be sent back and they must not even come”.
“Amalgam and racism”
His defense believes that Mr. Zemmour only did “Repeat with different words” the concerns expressed by the authorities on delinquency linked to unaccompanied minors.
Young supporters of Eric Zemmour, “Generation Z”, planned a rally in front of the court before the opening of the hearing, which should have been held on September 8, but was dismissed due to the large number of civil parties .
About thirty of them were formed, including the SOS Racisme associations, the Human Rights League (LDH) and the Maison des Potes, as well as about twenty departmental councils, unaccompanied minors being taken care of. by social assistance for children, managed by the departments.
“These are young people who have the right to protection and a dignified reception”, declared to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the socialist president of the departmental council of Seine-Saint-Denis Stéphane Troussel, a civil party “Because we cannot tolerate the amalgamations and the racism of which this gravedigger of the republic is accustomed”.
“What are the departmental councils doing in this affair?” “, criticized Mr. Zemmour’s defense. “It’s pure politics if they’re there. “
Several times relaxed
The comments made on the air are “Absolutely intolerable” and suggest that “Any unaccompanied minor is a potential delinquent who comes to France to commit atrocities”, estimated the lawyer of SOS Racisme, Me Patrick Klugman. “This is the very essence of racism. “
As is the custom in press trials, the boss of Canal + will be tried alongside Mr. Zemmour, as the broadcaster of the remarks. The Superior Audiovisual Council (CSA) has already sanctioned, in March, the news channel with a fine of 200,000 euros, for “Incitement to hatred” and “To violence”.
” Constraint “ by a decision of the CSA, CNews announced in mid-September that Mr. Zemmour, the driving force behind the audiences since his arrival on the channel in 2019, would no longer intervene in the show. Several voices had previously been raised to denounce the platform offered every day to a potential presidential candidate.
The 63-year-old polemicist’s positions have earned him, over the past ten years, about fifteen lawsuits. Several times released, he was twice convicted of incitement to hatred.