“I overdid it for the message to get through”: Jean-Claude Rochefort thus defended himself during the observations on his sentence which took place on Friday. The blogger and adorer of the author of the Polytechnique massacre Marc Lépine could receive a year in prison for his anti-feminist writings.
The man who praised Marc Lépine assured that he would no longer write anti-feminist texts on the internet. He now has other passions: the guitar and modern German literature. “I have gone around the question. I would look like a clown if I still post,” he said.
Jean-Claude Rochefort, found guilty of having deliberately fomented hatred against women, admitted having gone far. “I overdid it to get the message across. »
“Do you have empathy for the families of the victims of the Polytechnique massacre? “, asked Friday the prosecutor of the Crown Me Roxanne Laporte.
“I was in the perspective of this real event which was taken over by a movement”, he replied.
Me Laporte raised the publication in 2018 by the author of the blog of a photo of Marc Lépine with the victims of the killing with the text “Kill them all bitch”
“I have empathy. I may have made a mistake by speaking louder, but those who speak the loudest are the least dangerous. »
The public ministry asks for one year of firm incarceration; the defense suggests a nine-month suspended sentence.
Jean-Claude Rochefort’s publications sowed fear at UQAM ahead of the commemorations of the 2019 Polytechnique massacre. The university’s logo was in several blog posts, as were the faces of women’s studies professors Francis Dupuis-Déri and Melissa Blais.
The professor testified Friday morning.
“I do hypervigilance every December 6th. I am constantly on my guard, ”she told the judge in reference to the anniversary of the Polytechnique massacre. She mentioned being afraid that men would be inspired by the writings of Jean-Claude Rochefort and decide to make violent gestures.
She said she was scared when she met a man who looked like the blogger.
“There is a succession”
Jean-Claude Rochefort reiterated that he no longer needed to write. Other people do it better than him on the same topics, he said. He cited as an example Olivier Kaestlé, who writes a still active blog dealing with “the health fundamentalism of the CAQ, the defense of the male condition and the refusal of the Islamization of Quebec society”.
“There is a succession […] He writes much better than me,” said the 73-year-old.
In 2019, Mr. Rochefort praised the killer Marc Lépine in publications published before the commemorations of the Polytechnique mass feminicide. In one of his blogs, he invited people to celebrate “the feast of Saint-Marc-Lépine”, then encouraged the “disciples” of Marc Lépine “to polish their rifles”. According to the accused, Marc Lépine had “restored dignity to men”.
In other publications, Mr. Rochefort also glorified a fictional character of his invention named Ulrich, whom he presented as the son of God and a killer of women. Still others included photo montages and other illustrations featuring Marc Lépine, weapons, and dismembered women.
Judge Pierre Labrie will render his decision on the sentence on January 27.