This is a deadline that the National Rally would have done well without. A small stone in the legislative shoe. This Tuesday, four of its members or ex-members must be tried before the Nanterre criminal court for “provocation of discrimination” and complicity in this offense. At the forefront of which are the former vice-president of the RN, Steeve Briois, mayor of Hénin-Beaumont and close to Marine Le Pen, the former MEP Sophie Montel and the MEP and former vice-president of the National Front, Jean-François Jalkh.
The case is not new: the complaint was filed ten years ago by the association La Maison des Potes-La maison de l’égalité after the publication of the “practical guide for municipal elected officials National Front” . At the time, the National Rally was still called the National Front. He obtained around 13% of the votes in the legislative elections.* And Jean-Marie Le Pen played a leading role. Fundamentally, however, the question remains extremely topical.
Seven years of education
This booklet invited elected officials to defend “the national priority”, particularly in “access to social housing” and to “demand” its application. A question still at the heart of the RN program. “We are touching on the backbone of this party,” said Slim Ben Achour, one of the association’s advisors. This is a questioning of the fundamental rights of certain people; it is the very principles of the rule of law that are being targeted. »
At the end of seven years of investigation, the judicial information estimated that the party could publicly defend the national preference within the framework of a debate or campaign – the objective is then to change the legislation – but not to demand its elected officials to implement an illegal measure. Access to social housing is, in fact, not conditional on nationality. “These comments are in line with the party line,” insists Sophie Montel’s lawyer, Me Randolph Schwerdorffer. If these ideas are illegal, this amounts to saying that the party itself is not intended to exist. » And the lawyer assures that the very role of a party is to propose new ideas, even if they provoke debate.
According to the investigation, the text was written by Sophie Montel – who has since left the party – at the request of Steeve Briois, then party secretary. Which the latter denies. Certainly, he admits to having prefaced the booklet but assures that he was unaware of its content. Both are tried as accomplices while Jean-François Jalkh, then director of publications of the FN, is designated as the main author of the facts.
Towards a dismissal?
The trial has been adjourned countless times. Last January, when this hearing date was set for mid-June, it was impossible to imagine the political scenario of recent days.
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It could be once again: the defendants’ lawyers are preparing to request a referral, taking into account the electoral context. “If the hearing is really postponed, it is a democratic scandal,” protests Mr. Slim Ben Achour. And the lawyer points out that justice cannot be influenced by the electoral calendar. And to insist: “The political context is secondary to the issues”.
* Legislative elections of 2012 and 2017, results of the first round