Racism & fascism - in brief (5)
01 September 1998
Wales: Racist skins escape punishment: Three racist skinheads, part of a gang who took part in a vicious attack on two black youths, Marcus Walters and Francisco Borg, in Cardiff, south Wales, appeared at Cardiff crown court in August. The men received token sentences that mean that they will be out of prison within weeks. The racists were caught carrying out the assault on a CCTV video as police looked on. Sean Canavan was convicted of violent disorder and jailed for a year, John Sheppard was also found guilty of violent disorder and jailed for 6 months. A third man, Raymond Lovell, was sentenced to 120 hours community service and fined ?150 costs (see Statewatch Vol 8, no. 3 & 4).
France: Bleu-Blanc-Rouge meets Black-Blanc-Beur: The Front National's (FN) yearly demonstration of xenophobic patriotism, the fete de Bleu-Blanc-Rouge, was this year obliged to share the streets of Paris not only with revellers participating in the city's techno parade, but also with a counter-demonstration by several thousand members of around 60 anti-racist, trade-union and left-wing political organisations. On September 19 and 20, in a celebration of the ethnic, racial and cultural diversity of contemporary France, the counter-demonstration was named Black-Blanc-Beur. It was organised by the Comite de Vigilance contre l'extreme droite and culminated on Sunday night in a concert at la Cigale. Whilst racist skinheads and other FN members vented their hatred of Jews, Arabs and all those whom they consider a threat to so-called "French values", (discipline, the Church, the family and "white, western roots"), the anti-racists denounced the FN's xenophobic, homophobic and sexist ideology, chanting, "We are all the children of immigrants". Le Monde, 19.9.98, 22.9.98.
France: Toulon By-election: The racist Front National (FN) lost its only seat in the French Chamber of Deputies on September 27. The election in Toulon followed the annulment of the previous two elections due to campaign irregularities. In June 1997, Jean-Marie Le Chevallier was elected and became the sole FN MP. His election was subsequently annulled because he had breached regulations governing campaign funding. In May 1998, the Socialist candidate Odette Casanova narrowly beat Mr Le Chevallier's wife, Cendrine, polling 50.06% of the vote to Mrs Le Chevallier's 49.93%. This election was also declared invalid because of an appearance by Ms Casanova on a television broadcast just prior to the election. In September both Ms Casanova and Mrs Le Chevallier stood again, with Marc Bayle standing as the explicitly anti-FN RPR candidate. Mrs Le Chevallier had a narrow victory in the first round, polling 39.69% of the vote. Ms. Casanova gained 36.65% and Mr Bayle, 20.99%. In the second round RPR voters appear to have rallied to Ms Casanova, despite a refusal on the part of local and central RPR party officials to endorse the anti-FN stance of their candidate. She finally won the seat by more than 700 votes, gaining 53%, a 3% increase on her final percentage in May. Le Monde 19.9.98, 22.9.98; Times 28.9.98; Guardian 28.9.98.