“When we will be Muslim in the year 2020”. To the tune of Pierre Bachelet, Blagodariov’s video has 28,000 views on YouTube. Nothing special. But is it even a real account? Not sure. On the platform, a single video and 179 subscribers still remains suspicious for a rather well-known name. In reality, Blagodariov’s accounts – famous for his “Parodies of a Patriot” which cover French songs – are often suspended by the platforms and he has to hide his creations on more private spaces. However, it is still possible to find them on Russian sites or on Odysee – the site created by the American libertarian Jeremy Kauffman. Before crying out for censorship from Western countries, a look at his songs is in order. Most of them are anti-Semitic, racist or homophobic.
There is no shortage of examples in these songs, whose “poetic” universe is described as “tender and offbeat” on his YouTube channel – which has since no longer been accessible. The song The runes are still good refers to Nazism and wonders why the National Rally is not more open to wearing swastikas. The text also refers to pure blood. “Not that of a bougnoule,” quotes the cover. Racism is not missing in the title either The white race, accompanied by an exhaustive subtitle “Colonial song”. To the tunes of White roses by Berthe Sylva, colonization and slavery are seen as a boon for those called “the niggers” who should be indebted to their new homeland. Each video is accompanied by unmistakable illustrations such as Hitler salutes or black men in chains. So much for the charming painting still described as “provocative but consensual”, again according to his old YouTube account.
The arrest of Cédric M. alias Blagodariov
The nursery rhymes are of the same order. “My little Yid is very sad. It’s because he doesn’t dare get on the train. Get on my little yip, get on the little train. Get up or I’ll break your back. Once you arrive, you will take a bath”, we hear on a cover of My little rabbit is very sad. Other covers use terms like “négraille” or “youtrons”.
However, on the Internet, Blagodariov’s parodies sometimes make you chuckle. On the forums especially which are concerned about the arrest announced on January 10 by Europe 1, of a 42-year-old man suspected of being “Blagodariov”, a pseudonym which refers to a character in the book November 16 by the Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn. The journalist explains that, in mid-December, a search was carried out at the home of Cédric M., who was subsequently arrested. His equipment had been seized. The 42-year-old man who lived with his parents in the 13th arrondissement of Paris was presented to a magistrate from the National Center for the Fight against Online Hate of the Paris prosecutor’s office.
“Too bad, his songs were funny,” regrets one Internet user. “His hits will not disappear,” imagines another.
A judgment at the end of February
Always according to Europe 1, an investigation was launched at the end of the summer after a complaint from the Jewish Observatory of France six months earlier. “This unscrupulous individual uses the music of well-known French nursery rhymes, he modifies the lyrics inciting hatred and the murder of several communities. His racism and anti-Semitism are such that he takes advantage of the naivety and innocence of children to indoctrinate them into his hatred by publishing on YouTube and other networks a lot of soft music intended for children. wrote the press release. And added: “The Jewish Observatory of France is shocked by the actions of this dangerous individual, hateful towards Jews, Muslims and men of color.”
According to the Parisian, the 42-year-old man will be tried at the end of February for “public incitement to hatred or violence against a person or a group of people because of their origin or their belonging or their non- belonging to a specific ethnic group, nation, race or religion. An offense punishable by one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros. While awaiting his trial, the man was placed under judicial supervision.