French Rugby Star Chalureau Faces Appeal in Racial Violence Case

The facts date back to the end of January 2020. Bastien Chalureau was returning from a drunken evening. He crosses the path of a 39-year-old (at the time of the facts) father on the Jean-Jaurès alleys in Toulouse and violently assaults him. The events took place between 4:30 and 5 a.m. According to the explanations of the almost forty-year-old, the rugby player, a second row at Montpellier and for the French national team, former player of Stade Toulousain, called him a "bougnoule" before hitting him. The professional athlete flatly rejects the accusations of racist insults.

The victim had filed a complaint for "violence without incapacity on the grounds of race". On Tuesday, he is being tried before the Toulouse Court of Appeal for violence committed on the grounds of race or ethnicity. As in the first instance, the Public Prosecutor’s Office has requested eight months of suspended prison sentence and the prohibition to hold a weapon for five years against Bastien Chalureau at the appeal trial, reports La Dépêche du Midi.