This is the end of a suspense that reigned for several months. Eric Zemmour announced Tuesday, November 30, his candidacy for the 2022 presidential election. With this declaration, the far-right polemicist officially launches himself on the political scene, him which first became known to the general public on television sets.
His speeches, especially as a columnist, have also made him a regular in the courtrooms. For thirteen years, the 63-year-old man has accumulated a dozen court cases. Some proceedings are still ongoing, others have resulted in final convictions, in particular for “incitement to racial hatred”, or his release. Franceinfo recaps.
Sentenced for “incitement to racial hatred” and “incitement to religious hatred”
In February 2011, the Paris Criminal Court condemned Eric Zemmour in two proceedings for “incitement to racial hatred”. He was fined 2,000 euros suspended. This conviction follows, on the one hand, comments made bye March 6, 2010, on the set of the Canal + program “Salut les Terriens”. Eric Zemmour declares about the facies checks : “But why are we checked 17 times? Why? Because most of the traffickers are black and Arab! That’s how it is, it’s a fact …” On the other hand, the same day, on France Ô, he explains that the employers “have the right” to refuse Arabs or blacks. In both proceedings, the criminal court, however, acquits Eric Zemmour the crime of “public defamation”, as explained at the time Le Monde (paid item). The polemicist did not appeal.
In September 2019, he was this time sentenced to a fine of 3,000 euros. for “provocation to religious hatred” concerning comments made on France 5, in “C à vous”. He affirmed there, in September 2016, that France suffered “for thirty years an invasion”, with in some suburbs a “struggle to Islamize a territory”, and that should be given to Muslims “the choice between Islam and France”. After seeing his cassation appeal rejected, Eric Zemmour seized the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights) in December 2019, finding that France violated its freedom of expression. Under French law, however, his conviction is considered final.
Ongoing proceedings in particular for “racist insult” or “contestation of crimes against humanity”
The denunciation of the first name of Hapsatou Sy. Eric Zemmour is pursued by the columnist Hapsatou Sy, whose first name he had qualified “insult to France” on the set of “Salut les Terrens”, in September 2018. The host, who left the Canal + group, lodged a complaint for “racist insult”. The trial is scheduled to take place in September 2022.
The defense of Marshal Pétain. In 2019, proceedings were initiated against him for “contesting crimes against humanity”, after his remarks on Marshal Pétain who, according to him, “Safe” French Jews during the Occupation. Eric Zemmour was released last February at first instance. However, the civil parties, including Licra, have appealed this decision, and the hearing is set for January 20, 2022.
Virulent remarks during the Convention of the right. In September 2019, during the Convention of the Right, ororganized by relatives of the former far-right MP Marion Maréchal, the polemicist delivers a virulent speech. He states, among other things, that “all our problems made worse by immigration are made worse by islam“, that a “colonization reversal“ is in progress to reach a “Catholic heterosexual white man extermination“. He is sentenced at first instance to a fine of 10,000 euros for “insult” and “incitement to hatred”, before being released by the Paris Court of Appeal last September. The general prosecutor’s office and the civil parties appealed to the Supreme Court.
A diatribe against unaccompanied minors. September 29, 2020 thehen a debate in “Face à l’Info” on CNews, Eric Zemmour had said about unaccompanied minors: “They have nothing to do here, they are thieves, they are murderers, they are rapists (…).“ Last November, Eric Zemmour was tried before the Paris Criminal Court for “incitement to hatred” and “racial insult”. His lawyer asked relax it. The prosecution, for its part, requested a fine of 10,000 euros, with the possibility of imprisonment in the event of non-payment. The court’s decision will be released on January 17.
Charges against Taha Bouhafs. In November 2020, the polemicist describes the journalist Taha Bouhafs as “Islamist militant“on CNews. He lodged a complaint in February against Eric Zemmour and the channel for” public insult. “According to Arié Alimi, lawyer for Taha Bouhafs contacted by franceinfo, the investigation is underway.
Relaxed in several cases
Not all trials resulted in a conviction. Eric Zemmour has avoided sanctions in several cases. From 2008, he is prosecuted for “defamation” by the former president of the Representative Council of Black Associations (Cran), Patrick Lozès, before being released in July 2012. The decision was confirmed on appeal in June 2013.
Subsequently, in 2014, it is in the Italian daily Corriere della Sera that Eric Zemmour declares that Muslims “have their Civil Code, it’s the Koran”, and that they “live among themselves, in the suburbs. The French were forced to leave.” He was sentenced at first instance in 2015 for “inciting hatred” towards Muslims, before being finally released in November 2018 by the Paris Court of Appeal.
In September 2015, Eric Zemmour is also released from prosecution for “incitement to racial hatred” after his comments made in 2014 on “bands“foreigners “who rob, violate or rob“, on RTL. In June 2016, the Paris Court of Appeal confirmed the release.
Finally, in May 2016, still on RTL, Eric Zemmour accuses Cécile Duflot of being at the origin of Mediapart’s revelations on the Denis Baupin affair. The polemicist evokes a “political revenge” from the former minister. Prosecuted for defamation, he was finally released in February 2018, notes France Inter.