France: Le Pen loses final appeal

France: Le Pen loses final appeal

This article discusses several court cases and several appeals.  I admit I don't fully follow which case was appealed here.

-----

The French Supreme Court rejected the appeal filed by Jean-Marie Le Pen, making his sentence of a 10,000 euro fine final for incitement to racial discrimination for comments made about the Muslims of France on April 2004 in the extreme right journal Rivarol, the court announced Wednesday.

In a ruling Tuesday, the criminal court said that the court of appeals correctly justified its decisions of March 29, 2006 and March 12, 2008.
 
On April 2, 2004, the tribunal correctional court of Paris convicted Jean-Marie Le Pen for an interview in Le Monde on April 19, 2003, in which he said: "The we have in France, not five million, but 25 million Muslims, they will be in charge."

"And the French will hug their walls, steps down from the sidewalks and lower their eyes.  when they don't, they would be told: why are you looking at me like that, you're looking for a fight?" he added

A month later, Mr. Le Pen was republished in an interview in Rivarol: "All the more so when I say that with 25 million Muslims here, the French will hug their walls, people in the room tell me, not without reason: but Mr. Le Pen, this is already the case now."

For these new remarks he was prosecuted by the LDH (League for Human Rights) and LICRA (International League against Racism and Antisemitism)

In his trial he escaped conviction, the correctional tribunal of Paris 'annulled the proceedings' against him.

But on March 29, 2006, the 11th court of the Court of Appeals finally validated the proceedings.  In a second decision given on March 12, 2008, it sentenced the president of the National Front to pay a 10,000 euro fine, and 5,000 euro in damages to the LDH.

Source: AFP (French), See also: Daniel Pipes on Le Pen

No comments: