French Mayor Files Complaint Over Councilman’s Anti-Muslim Remarks During Racism Debate

It was one statement too many for an elected official. "Muslims are responsible for the deaths, victims of attacks in France," Michel Faïsse had declared on December 11, at a time when the majority of elected officials were adopting a law against Islamophobia and racism. They were referring to the recent attacks on the mosques of Bayonne and Christchurch in New Zealand, and the remarks of Julien Odoul, an RN elected official, against a veiled mother at the regional council of Burgundy, reports Le Parisien.

The remarks provoked the indignation of his colleagues and Internet users. On Wednesday, January 8, Sylvie Altman (PCF), the mayor of Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, filed a complaint against him with the Créteil prosecutor’s office for incitement to hatred on the grounds of religious affiliation. For her, it is "an intolerable amalgamation between Muslims and terrorists."

"It was a slip of the tongue," reacted Michel Faïsse, who tried to defend himself. "I wanted to say ’Islamists’ and not ’Muslims’. It was at the end of the municipal council meeting. I was tired. I called the head of the LFI group to explain to him that it was a mistake. I have never had an extremist position during the term," he clarified.

"I was shocked by this motion. I would have liked to vote against these attacks and all the killings. But why not recall those of Charlie-Hebdo, the Hyper-Cacher, the Bataclan, the Stade de France, the Super U of Trèbes, the church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, the massacres of Christians in the Middle East, of evangelists in Nigeria, of burned churches in Pakistan... [...]," he wrote on his Facebook page. For Michel Faïsse, the filed complaint is "a political maneuver by the mayor to recover the Muslim community’s vote."