A 23-year-old former member of the National Rally (RN), candidate for the June 2021 departmental elections in Doubs, appeared before the Besançon criminal court on Monday. He was accused of having drawn crosses of Lorraine on a Doubs mosque painted red and the premises of two Turkish associations in Pontarlier and Montlebon on November 7th. He did it again on November 20, attacking the Sounna and Fontaine Ecu mosques in Besançon.
Several religious and association leaders then denounced “Islamophobic provocations”, seeing an “anti-Muslim” message in the misuse of this symbol of Gaullism and the Resistance. The various religious and cultural associations which had brought civil action collectively obtained more than 20,000 euros in damages and interest in compensation for material and moral damage.
Reprieve and deprivation of civic rights
At the hearing, the prosecutor had requested a sentence of two years in prison, including one year firm, and a deprivation of civic rights. The individual who admitted the facts, was finally sentenced to eighteen months’ imprisonment suspended on probation for two years, and 5 years of deprivation of his civic rights.
“We would have liked a firm prison sentence, even a short one, to be pronounced, given the seriousness of the facts”, reacted Khalid Jarmouni, the president of the Islamic Cultural Center of Franche-Comté (CCIFC), which manages the mosque of Fountain Ecu. “We hope that this young man can bounce back, and that one day he may apologize,” added Khalid Jarmouni. “I also hope that this condemnation will appease the faithful of our community, some of whom have their grandparents who participated in the liberation of France during the Second World War”.
Samuel Thomas, general delegate of the National Federation of Houses of Friends (FNMDP), who had also joined as a civil party, expressed his “satisfaction” after the “dissuasive sanction” pronounced by the court, and the sentence of deprivation of rights civics, which he had demanded. “It is very important that this type of individual, who intends to stand for election, be declared ineligible,” he said. For her part, adds AFP, the defendant’s lawyer, Maître Ornella Spatafora, was not available to respond to their requests.