The Besançon criminal court sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison suspended a former activist of the National Rally (RN) for having drawn crosses of Lorraine on several mosques in Doubs.
Quentin Le Derout, 23, RN candidate for the June 2021 departmental elections in Doubs, had drawn crosses of Lorraine in red paint on a mosque and the premises of two Turkish associations in Pontarlier and Montlebon on November 7. .
He did it again on November 20, attacking the Sounna and Fontaine Ecu mosques in Besançon.
5 years of ineligibility
Several religious and association leaders then denounced “Islamophobic provocations”, seeing an “anti-Muslim” message in the misuse of this symbol of Gaullism and the Resistance.
Quentin Le Derout, who admitted the facts, was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment suspended on probation for two years, and 5 years of ineligibility, for degrading buildings used for worship. At the hearing, the prosecutor had requested a sentence of 2 years in prison, including one year firm, and 5 years of ineligibility.
The man had indicated in police custody that the “Muslim religion was not compatible with the values of France. The investigators had no trouble establishing his pedigree as an extreme right-wing activist, he was the former candidate for the departmental elections in the Doubs for the RN. The icing on the cake, they found a copy of “Mein Kampf” at his home, as reported by our colleagues from The Republican East.
“We hope that this young man can bounce back”
The various religious and cultural associations which had filed civil suits collectively obtained more than 20,000 euros in damages and interest in compensation for material and moral damage. “We would have liked a firm prison sentence, even a short one, to be pronounced, given the seriousness of the facts”, reacted Khalid Jarmouni, the president of the Islamic Cultural Center of Franche-Comté (CCIFC), which manages the mosque of Fountain Ecu.
“We hope that this young man will be able to bounce back, and that one day he may apologize,” added Mr. Jarmouni. “I also hope that this condemnation will appease the faithful of our community, some of whom have their grandparents who participated in the liberation of France during the Second World War”.
Samuel Thomas, general delegate of the National Federation of Houses of Friends (FNMDP), who had also joined as a civil party, expressed his “satisfaction” after the “dissuasive sanction” pronounced by the court, and the sentence of ineligibility, which he had requested.