The French writer allegedly incites hatred because he paints the potential for violence in his country to the extreme. This is not a case for the judiciary.
The long shadow of the writer: Michel Houellebecq will recite his own poems to music by Romain Poncet in Bourges in April 2022.
The writer Michel Houellebecq is one of France’s most zealous provocateurs. In a miserably long conversation with the philosopher Michel Onfray, which was published in the magazine Front Populaire, he recently again gave a taste of his aversion to Islam. He earned his reputation as a rabid Islamophobe back in 2001, when he described Islam as the “stupidest of all religions” in an interview after the publication of his novel “Plateforme”. Several French Islam organizations then sued him for inciting hatred. However, without success, Michel Houellebecq was acquitted of the charge.