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France: Convictions for incitement

01 January 1991

France: Convictions for incitement

FN leader Le Pen has been awarded 1 franc following a libel
action against the magazine `Journal' which called him a
`nazillon' (`little Nazi'). At the same time, however, the
Chambery court of appeal has rejected his action against the
paper which had carried an editorial warning its readers that a
vote for the FN in the March cantonal and regional elections
would be a vote for racism and anti-Semitism (Liberation
28/29.11.92).
A further two former FN officials, responsible for an openly
racist and anti-Semitic leaflet whilst students at the university
in Nancy, have been convicted of incitement to racial hatred. The
leaflet called for the University to become the preserve of
French youth and complained of `the excessive presence of
foreigners who turn our faculties into filthy warehouses for the
Third World' (L'Humanite 28.11.92).
A further three former FN regional councillors have been fined
by a Strasbourg court and barred from standing for public office
for producing a paper `Dernieres Nouvelles d'Alsace' that
contained racist and anti-Semitic articles. The title of the
paper was copied from a former daily paper, the political editor
of which took the action against the three former FN officials
(Le Monde 27.11.92).

IRR European Race Audit no 2 1992. Contact: Liz Fekete, Institute
of Race Relations, 2-6 Leeke Street, London WC1X 9HS Tel: ++ 071
837 0041