This article is part of our special report Mapping anti-Muslim sentiment in Europe.
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) confirmed that pundit-turned-presidential-candidate Eric Zemmour’s conviction of inciting religious hatred in France was fair and that French courts did not infringe upon his freedom of speech.
The judicial ruling comes amid the normalisation of anti-Muslim speech by the extreme right in France, Ghaleb Bencheikh, President of the French Foundation of Islam, told EURACTIV.
In its ruling on 20 December, the ECHR confirmed there had been no violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which focuses on freedom of speech.
In a TV debate in September 2016, Zemmour claimed that Muslims ought to choose between Islam or France. He warned against the ‘Islamisation’ of entire neighbourhoods and stated that Islam and jihad were one and the same.
French courts later convicted him of “inciting discrimination, hatred or violence against a group of people because of their origin or religious identity” – a decision upheld by the Cour de Cassation, France’s highest judicial body. Zemmour appealed to the ECHR in December 2019.
“The Court held that the interference with the applicant’s right to freedom of expression had been necessary in a democratic society to protect the rights of others which had been at stake in the case,” the ECHR press release reads, upholding the decision of the French courts.
The Court also emphasised Zemmour was not free of his “duties” as a journalist at the time, and his claims, made on live, prime-time television, were made with the intent to discriminate.
Zemmour presents anti-immigration EU vision similar to Le Pen's
Éric Zemmour, the fiery far-right candidate in the French presidential elections, chose to clarify his anti-immigration-focused vision of Europe in Calais. While he will not advocate for Frexit, he will try to renegotiate the Schengen agreement, and “if necessary” withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights.
Anti-Muslim hate speech: the new normal
This EHCR ruling points to a broader issue in French society today, the French Foundation of Islam’s Bencheikh said, adding that it shines a light on the growing trivialisation of hate speech against the French Muslim community.
This dates back years, Bencheikh said, attributing the growth of anti-Islam sentiment to three factors: the underrepresentation of experts of Islam culture in the French media landcape, the failure to resolve the “colonial question” after the end of the Algerian War in 1962, and the “dark decade” of terrorist attacks in France between 2012 and 2022, which has instilled fear in the minds of French citizens.
“The Muslim component of French society feels discriminated, and, almost as a psychological reflex, they can tend to withdraw from mainstream society,” he said, adding such separation can fuel yet more suspicion.
The number of violent acts against Muslims in France increased by 38% between 2019 and 2021, according to a parliamentary report, at 213 acts in 2021. The report emphasises that this number is likely to be a gross understatement, as many victims do not file police complaints in the first place.
Islamophobia often overlooked in Germany
Many Germans do not consider instances of racism against Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim as such, with experts cautioning that more public awareness is needed and yawning data gaps must be closed to tackle the problem.
Zemmour’s ‘own’ freedom of expression
Bencheikh welcomed the EHCR ruling. “The cursor between freedom of speech and censorship must always side with freedom,” Bencheikh said – but added that it comes with limits, which the European judicial decision clearly outlined.
Asif Arif, lawyer and author of a book on Zemmour and Islam, shared the same view. “We must not question the fundamental principle of freedom of expression, that has lasted for centuries,” he told EURACTIV.
But that doesn’t mean all can be said, Arif added, explaining that the far-right politician wants his “own” kind of freedom of expression, in which attacks against Muslims are tolerated, insofar as they threaten “republican values” and cannot be turned down by courts.
The lawyer underlined the responsibility of a number of media sources who have welcomed Zemmour with open arms, giving him the necessary space to make anti-Islam claims with no counterarguments or fact-checking.
“The trivialisation of hate speech is not the work of one man: It grew more and more tolerated on some TV channels and publications before it reached the political spheres”, Arif told EURACTIV.
Bencheikh agreed, accusing specific media channels, such as the French CNews outlet, of supporting Zemmour’s narrative “at an ‘industrial’ scale”.
Courts have proven resilient against the change in political narratives, and the focus now ought to be on bringing a positive view of Islam back into the French political sphere, Bencheikh said, through media depiction, but also education: “enough is enough!”
EU Commission ‘fully committed’ to fight anti-Muslim hatred but lacks coordinator
While Islamophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment keeps growing across the EU, lawmakers have called on the European Commission to quickly appoint the EU coordinator to fight anti-Muslim hatred and step up efforts to tackle discrimination across the Union.
[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]
Source: euractiv.com
