Public prosecutor seeks fine against ex-French far-right MP for racial remarks directed at Africans

By Ilayda Cakirtekin

ISTANBUL (AA) – A French public prosecutor has requested a court to fine a former far-right National Rally (NR) party parliamentarian €1,500 (approximately $1,700) for "incitement to discrimination" remarks directed at Africans in the country with dual citizenship.

The public prosecutor on Thursday requested a €1,500 (about $1,705) fine from the Sens court (Yonne) in Bourgogne-Franche-Comte in north-central France against former MP Daniel Grenon, who was expelled from National Rally, according to the regional daily L'Yonne Republicaine.

The verdict, however, has been postponed until May 2.

Grenon was summoned to court in 2024 for remarks he made against North Africans while running for a parliamentary seat in the French department of Yonne.

“There are people who are Maghrebi who have come into power, as ministers, etc. Well, I feel that those people have no place in high positions,” Grenon said during a debate organized by L’Yonne Republicaine.

He was prosecuted for “public incitement to discrimination based on origin, ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion” and for “public insult on the same grounds.”

Grenon's racist remarks sparked widespread outrage at the time, according to the French daily L'Humanite.

He was suspended and then expelled from the National Rally last October due to mounting pressure.