Judgment has fallen. The Metz prosecutor’s office on Wednesday requested three months in prison and three years of ineligibility against Cassandre Fristot, a teacher and former member of the FN who held up an anti-Semitic sign during a demonstration against the health pass on August 7.
Ms. Fristot did not come to the criminal court where she is tried for “incitement to racial hatred”. She faces up to one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.
The judgment was reserved for October 20. The prosecution also called for the “destruction of the seals”, including a sign and flags seized during a search of the home of the 33-year-old teacher in early August.
The lawyers of the 13 civil parties all insisted on the fact that the sign brandished on August 7 bore “the deep scars of anti-Semitism” and the “codes of conspiracy”, as emphasized by Me David-Olivier Kaminski, lawyer of the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France (Crif).
“+ But Qui + is a new presentation of anti-Semitic thought, and this thought, with this poster which was brandished publicly in the streets of Metz, falls under the law. So I think the court must condemn Cassandre Fristot, ”he insisted.
“We have here a young woman who recycles in the 21st century the old anti-Semitic moons of the 19th century,” added Licra’s lawyer, Me Simon Burkatkzi. “This case is part of the long period of anti-Semitism that smells of mothballs,” he lamented, also asking for a “clear and firm criminal response”.
“Decoration”
These claims were disputed by defense attorneys, who denied any anti-Semitism on the part of their client.
“The + But Qui + is + but who is responsible for this health policy +: do we no longer have the right to say + who, but who? +: Today it is forbidden to to say? », Protested Me Paul Yon.
He maintained that the horns inscribed on the “Who” of the incriminated sign were only “decoration”.
Her colleague, Me François Wagner, explained that the young woman did not come to the hearing because, “victim of threats”, she did not wish to “expose herself”. The council also accused journalists of trying to “force” the door of his client’s home. “She received 50 calls from journalists,” he complained.
The two defense lawyers requested that the proceedings be canceled outright for a technical defect.
“It is a pity that she is not there, I would have liked to ask her a few questions”, regretted the president of the tribunal, Marie-José Miceli.
She had to content herself with reading Cassandre Fristot’s statements to investigators during her police custody.
“I wanted to denounce the powerful, I blame them for their decisions and not their religious denomination,” she said.
In front of the court, about thirty supporters of the young woman had chanted “Cassandra rightly” when they were refused from the courtroom for lack of space. They also asked to remove the many journalists present to leave them seats.
About ten of his supporters also went around the building, reciting rosaries.
The dissemination of a photo of the sign, proudly brandished by its author wearing a beret during the demonstration in Metz in early August, had sparked an outcry in the political class and organizations fighting against racism and anti-Semitism.
The young woman, a substitute German teacher, was suspended by the National Education, “temporarily” according to her lawyers.