The former vice-president of the RN is in court after having prefaced a guide which recommended to the elected officials of his party to apply the “national preference” in terms of housing. Steeve Briois, will appear on Tuesday before the Nanterre Criminal Court for “complicity in public provocation to discrimination”
The mayor of Hénin-Beaumont (Pas-de-Calais) is on trial alongside RN MEP Jean-François Jalkh, who is appearing for “public provocation to discrimination”. Marie-Thérèse Costa-Fesenbeck, deputy mayor of Perpignan, and Sophie Montel, who has since left the party, are also being prosecuted for “complicity”. The case began in 2014 with a complaint by the Maison des Potes association against those responsible for the publication of the “Practical Guide to the National Front elected municipal official”.
Ball return
In this document published before the municipal elections of March 2014, the National Front (now National Rally) recommended that its candidates “defend the national priority, for example in the allocation of social housing” and its future elected officials to “claim” its application. According to the investigation, the text had been written by Sophie Montel at the request of Steeve Briois, then secretary general of the party. The latter had explained during the investigation that the former elected official had written and distributed this guide alone, of which he had not validated the content.
Thérèse Costa-Fesenbeck is suspected of having put the document online on the website of the Pyrénées-Orientales federation, which she then headed. Jean-François Jalkh, then director of publications of the FN, disputes for his part “any responsibility” in this affair, said his lawyer.
Offense of discrimination
“It is also a gag procedure, initiated by an activist association to confiscate the debate on a social issue,” said David Dassa-Le Deist, who disputes the “discriminatory nature” of the recommendation. On the civil side, the Maison des Potes points the finger at a “party that attacks the values of the Republic”.
“The RN has ordered all its candidates to commit an offense of discrimination. A party that gives outlaw instructions is an outlawed party,” said Samuel Thomas, president of the association. According to Marie-Thérèse Costa-Fesenbeck’s lawyer, Me Rodolphe Bosselut, “there is basically no form of provocation to discrimination” in this guide which “simply recalled the themes of the campaign”.