“The Zouaves”: what is this far-right group whose alleged leader has just been sentenced to 1 year?


Marc de C.-V., presented as the leader of the dissolved far-right group “Les Zouaves”, was sentenced this Friday, January 21 to one year in prison for the attack on a Parisian bar emblematic of the movement anti-fascist. But what is this small group to which he says he belongs?

“Les Zouaves Paris”, suspected in particular of being involved in the violence committed during the meeting of Eric Zemmour in Villepinte (93) in December, had been dissolved on January 5 in the Council of Ministers.

Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior, had described “The Zouaves” as coming “either from the GUD [ancien syndicat étudiant d’extrême-droite, ndlr] or of Action française, that is to say of well-known ultra-right movements”.

The group, made up of few people (between 15 and 30), behaves “in hooligan fashion”, had described to Agence France-Presse the doctor in political science and identity specialist, Marion Jacquet-Vaillant.

Existing since 2018, it brought together “people who come from other more established groups, for violent and rapid actions”. Some of the members are thus accused of having struck militants of SOS Racisme, on December 5 in Villepinte (93).

At the heart of many violent acts

According to Gérald Darmanin, “The Zouaves” were a “de facto group”. This means that they were not formally constituted as an association but could be recognized as such. This is why the minister was able to launch the dissolution procedure, considering that they can commit “violent acts against persons or property”.

The small group had been implicated in cases of violence during demonstrations of yellow vests, the 1er December 2018 in Paris, still reports AFP.

Concerning Marc de C.-V., in the case of the attack on the Parisian antifa bar, his sentence to a prison term comes the day after his imprisonment for not having respected his judicial control.

The 23-year-old activist was arrested Thursday in Saint-Cloud (Hauts-de-Seine) and then imprisoned after being seen last Saturday in Paris at a demonstration against the vaccine pass when he was banned from participating in a rally.

This ban followed his indictment after the violence committed during a meeting of far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour in Villepinte in December.





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