Éric Zemmour, leader of the nationalist Reconquête party, was acquitted on Wednesday by the Paris Criminal Court after facing charges of incitement to hatred over remarks he made during the 2022 presidential campaign concerning immigration and crime in France.
During a live broadcast on the Public Sénat channel on Jan. 26, 2022, Zemmour stated, “If we have such explosive delinquency, it is because of immigration.” When asked whether he believed only immigrants were responsible for crime, he replied, “Yes. In any case, immigrants or children of immigrants.”
The Parisian court ruled that Zemmour’s remarks did not meet the legal standard for incitement to hatred. The judges noted that, “as excessive or provocative as these remarks may seem,” they were directed not at all immigrants, but at “the delinquent fraction.”
Zemmour, who received over 7 percent of the vote in the 2022 presidential election, has long been a vocal critic of France’s immigration policies, arguing that mass immigration has serious social and security consequences.
Though often criticized by political opponents, many of his concerns about crime and integration have resonated with segments of the French public.
Zemmour has faced several legal challenges over his statements in the past. Most recently, in March, he was fined €9,000 for inciting racial hatred after claiming France was divided between “two peoples” following the racially aggravated stabbing of Thomas, a 16-year-old White high school student, by a group of Black youths in Crepol.
“We have, today, a situation where we have two peoples, two Frances, two youths — that of Thomas, that of Chahid,” he said. He further described Arab-Muslim individuals as “scum” responsible for “dozens of deaths,” while dismissing concerns about protests from nationalist groups in the aftermath of the attack as a “media smokescreen.”
In January 2022, Zemmour was fined for describing unaccompanied migrant minors as “thieves, murderers, and rapists.” In 2018, he was convicted for remarks concerning Islam and immigration during a televised interview. He was also convicted in 2011 for comments about crime statistics among minorities.
However, Zemmour has maintained that his statements reflect undeniable realities in France, and he continues to advocate for stricter immigration controls and national sovereignty.
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