Hollande promises harsher penalties for hate speech
February 24, 2015
French President Francois Hollande promised on Monday to introduce stiffer penalties for "racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic" speech in response to last month's deadly attacks in Paris.
Speaking an annual dinner hosted by France's Jewish council (CRIF), Hollande called for "faster, more effective" measures against hate speech and that he wanted such speech "to come under criminal law rather than press laws." He also told the guests that anti-Semitism should be considered an aggravating circumstance in the prosecution of all offenses.
"Jews are at home in France, it is the anti-Semites who have no place in the Republic," the president said.
He added that would-be jihadists will also face harsher punishment under an intelligence bill to be presented next month.
France has Europe's largest Jewish population at about half a million, but 7,000 Jews emigrated to Israel last year amid worries about young Muslims becoming radicalized.
Hollande's comments came just hours after French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve announced that six individuals suspected of planning to travel to Syria to fight with "Islamic State" (IS) had their passports confiscated.
Muslim boycott
Earlier Monday, France's Muslim leaders, who have attended the dinner every year since 2003, decided to boycott the event over comments the head of the CRI, Roger Cukierman, made associating young Muslims with violence. His comments included the use of the phrase "Islamo-fascism."
Cukierman was denouncing a growing number of incidents targeting Jews in France. He specified that he was talking about "a very small minority" of Muslims.
"Jews and Muslims, we are all in the same boat," he said, explaining that his earlier comments were specifically in reference to the attack at a kosher supermarket in Paris last month and the killing of a synagogue security guard earlier in February in Copenhagen.
About 10,000 French soldiers are protecting synagogues, mosques, schools, and cultural centers around the country. And they will stay mobilized "as long as necessary," according to President Hollande.
es/bw (AP, AFP)