Far-Right Pundit Eric Zemmour’s Conviction for Anti-Muslim Hate Speech Upheld by French Court

The commentator had already been convicted by the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal of Paris, on the grounds of "provocation to discrimination, hatred or violence against a person or group of persons, because of their origin or their belonging or non-belonging to a particular ethnic group, nation, race or religion".

Indeed, the CAPJPO-Euro-Palestine Association had filed a complaint against the French journalist who had made Islamophobic remarks during the "C à vous" program, broadcast on the France 5 television channel on September 6, 2016.

"For thirty years we have been experiencing an invasion, a colonization, which is leading to a conflagration," Zemmour had stated.

He had added: "In countless French suburbs where many young girls are veiled, it is also Islam, it is also jihad, it is also the struggle to Islamize a territory which is not, which is normally a non-Islamized land, a land of unbelievers. It’s the same thing, it’s the occupation of territory. I think we have to give them the choice between Islam and France."

These remarks earned the journalist a conviction. Zemmour will have to pay a 3,000 euro fine and cover the legal costs incurred by the Association, a conviction that was confirmed on Tuesday, September 17, by the Court of Cassation, which rejected Eric Zemmour’s appeal.