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8:39 p.m. : “We know that we have a frontal opposition on the subjects of immigration. When I said ‘that they return to Africa’, I obviously referred to the boat and the migrants that you mentioned. I would not have never uttered or tolerated any racist statement or insult towards you.”
RN deputy Grégoire de Fournas wrote a letter to his LFI counterpart Carlos Martens Bilongo, which franceinfo was able to consult, and in which he defends himself from having wanted to address a racist insult to the deputy. He says to himself “sorry for the misunderstanding that my words have caused“ and “regret if you were hurt by it”but continues to denounce the accusation of racism as a “political manipulation”.
8:06 p.m. : Let us recall the main information of this evening:
Nupes and majority leaders are demanding sanctions against RN deputy Grégoire de Fournas, who shouted “let them go back to Africa” as LFI MP Carlos Martens Bilongo asked about a ship carrying shipwrecked migrants. The question will be decided tomorrow.
Brigitte Giraud wins the Goncourt Prize for her novel live fast. The Renaudot is attributed to Simon Liberati for his book Performance.
Seven cargo ships loaded with grain have left Ukrainian ports, after Russia resumed its participation in the export deal.
End of career for Frenchman Gilles Simon, after his defeat at the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 against Félix Auger-Aliassime (6-1, 6-3).
7:55 p.m. : My statement following the racist arrest of deputy RN Grégoire de Fournas https://t.co/zLVdBKb65J
7:54 p.m. : “Would it have been more acceptable for an MP to yell, about the refugees on the SOS Méditerranée ship in dire straits, ‘let them go back to Africa’? Has racism become so commonplace that this sentence has become agreeable?”
LFI deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo reacts at greater length in a press release on the racist arrest of deputy RN Grégoire de Fournas during his speech. “From the benches of Nupes to those of LR, all the deputies present heard the same sentence” (“Go back to Africa”), he says, convinced that it was addressed to him. But he also questions the defense of the RN deputy, who assures that he was targeting the migrants Carlos Martens Bilongo was talking about.
6:43 p.m. : Shame. This is the #RN party of civil war and racism. Such comments to the French National Assembly are beyond intolerable. The forfeiture and the exclusion of the insulter must be decided! #DirectAN https://t.co/hqaSVWoEvG
6:43 p.m. : Racism of a member of the National Assembly: from the FN to the RN, the name changes, but the hideous references and despicable habits remain. What a shame.
6:42 p.m. : A little earlier, other politicians had reacted. Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin accuses the RN of having kept “hideous references and despicable habits” of its ancestor the National Front. Jean-Luc Mélenchon, for his part, demanded a harsher sanction than that mentioned in the press release from Nupes: “the forfeiture and exclusion of the insulter”.
6:40 p.m. : Grégoire de Fournas obviously spoke about the migrants transported in boats by the NGOs mentioned by our colleague in his question to the government. The controversy created by our political opponents is crude and will not deceive the French.
6:40 p.m. : Like her party before her, the president of the RN Marine Le Pen group defends Grégoire de Fournas: “The controversy created by our political adversaries is crude and will not deceive the French“she wrote on Twitter.
6:38 p.m. : In this press release, the Nupes also accuses Grégoire De Fournas of having “chose the lie for defense by modifying the sentence which he would have pronounced”. The latter assures that he was targeting the SOS Méditerranée boat and the shipwrecked migrants it is transporting, which Carlos Martens Bilongo was talking about at the microphone, and not the deputy himself.
6:32 p.m. : ? Racist remarks in the hemicycle: the NUPES demands the highest sanction against Grégoire de Fournas. https://t.co/HQmQudfua7
6:32 p.m. : In a joint press release notably relayed by the president of the LFI group Mathilde Panotthe four groups of the Nupes demand “the highest sanction provided for by the regulations [de l’Assemblée nationale]i.e. censorship with exclusion]”. Which corresponds, concretely, to an exclusion of 15 days and the deprivation for two months of half of the parliamentary allowance.
6:27 p.m. : The office of the National Assembly will meet tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. to decide on possible sanctions against the deputy RN Grégoire de Fournas after his racist arrest in the Hemicycle.
8:01 p.m. : At 6 p.m., here is an update on the news:
The National Assembly ends the session of questions to the government after a racist interpellation in the hemicycle. Grégoire de Fournas shouted “let them go back to Africa”during a question from Nupes deputy Carlos Martens Bilongo, which related to a ship carrying shipwrecked migrants.
Brigitte Giraud wins the Goncourt Prize for her novel live fast. The Renaudot is attributed to Simon Liberati for his book Performance.
#ISRAEL Outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid congratulates Benyamin Netanyahu on his “victoire” in the elections.
Seven cargo ships loaded with grain have left Ukrainian ports, after Russia resumed its participation in the export deal. Follow our live.
End of career for Frenchman Gilles Simon, after his defeat at the Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 against Félix Auger-Aliassime (6-1, 6-3).
5:45 p.m. : Hello . LFI MP Carlos Martens Bilongo asked a question about the “drama of illegal immigration” and in particular on the European NGO SOS Méditerranée which has asked for help from France, Spain and Greece to help it find a safe port to disembark 234 migrants rescued by its ship Ocean Viking before the weather does not deteriorate.
5:46 p.m. : What is the exact question posed by Mr. Carlos Martens Bilongo?
5:38 p.m. : The Renaissance group “will not sittomorrow at the Assembly for lack of a heavy penalty against the deputy Rassemblement national announces the vice-president of the group. Note that the RN group denies that its deputy targeted the elected LFI by shouting “Let them return to Africa”so the debates are likely to be animated tomorrow during the office of the Assembly which must meet to decide on a possible sanction.
5:36 p.m. : “Racism has no place in our democracy.”
Elisabeth Borne reacted after an LFI deputy was the victim of a racist arrest in the hemicycle at the National Assembly. She believes that “naturally” the office of the National Assembly “will have to take sanctions”.
5:30 p.m. : Hello @Larc and @enima. You are right, but it still has to be a “flagrant offence”. According to the explanations of the deputy RN, who assures that he was not addressing the deputy LFI, there can be debate.
5:36 p.m. : Unless I am mistaken, the office of the Assembly can waive parliamentary immunity at the request of the public prosecutor.
5:30 p.m. : The summary sheet on parliamentary immunity specifies that a deputy can be arrested in the event of a flagrant offense