Prosecuted for racial defamation after posting a tweet in 2021 declaring that “immigration is killing the youth of France”, Senator Reconquest! Stéphane Ravier was released on Friday July 7. “Defamation is intended to punish an attack on the honor of people, but this file does not make it possible to characterize the offense because the term “immigration” does not refer to a specific group of people, “said the Marseille Criminal Court in his judgment.
In a message on Twitter, July 11, 2021, Stéphane Ravier had posted the photo of a young seller of a telephone shop killed with a knife the day before in Seine-et-Marne, accompanying him with the following message “Theo, 18, murdered yesterday by a Senegalese in
At the hearing, on May 12, the representative of the prosecution had estimated the offense characterized, asking for a fine of 1,000 euros against the former RN senator who passed through the camp of Eric Zemmour during the last presidential election. “The juxtaposition of the Senegalese nationality of the assassin and the term” immigration “is indeed to target a particular community”, “the immigrant community”, and “we even indicate a geographical origin”, had developed Alain Berthomieu.
This tweet had been reported to the prosecution by the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra), a civil party to the trial. “We are extremely disappointed with this result, which demonstrates once again that in the public debate more and more comments are authorized”, commented Friday Serge Tavitian, representative of the Licra, after the announcement of the judgment: rejoice in the name of free speech? I deplore that the political class hesitates less and less to appeal to the emotions of the French to pit one against the other. »
Absent during the deliberation on Friday, Stéphane Ravier, who defends himself from any racism, had assured that this tweet – which he never removed from the social network – was a simple political commentary in reaction to a “dramatic” news item.