expression.” The League apparently never received a response.
On December 22, 2010, for the first time, a man was found guilty of desecration of the French flag under the terms of the decree. A first offense was not too costly—Mr. Saïdi was given a suspended €750 fine for having broken a flagpole bearing the tricolor flag at the prefecture, the provincial government headquarters in Nice. The previous day, Mr. Saïdi, an Algerian who had gone there to renew his working papers, blew a gasket when he was asked once again to come back another time. He grabbed the flagpole set up in the lobby, snapped it in two, and threw it at the functionary, missing him. Two police officers subdued him—with some difficulty, it would seem.
The Alpes-Maritime prefecture logically charged him with “destruction of public property and damage to a symbol of the French Republic.” Since it was now allowed to do so, it threw in the charge of “desecration of the tricolor flag.” The functionaries involved also filed charges. And Mr. Saïdi, in addition to being found guilty of desecration, copped a four-month suspended jail sentence for insurrection.
Was the flag desecration decree necessary to bring the hothead to justice? Clearly not. Damage to public property and insurrection would have sufficed. But in the atmosphere that had been deliberately created by the government of the time by promoting a debate on national identity, the opportunity to prosecute a foreigner—better yet, an Algerian—for desecration was too good to pass up. The prefecture, an instrument of the discriminatory policies of the Sarkozian state, needed to test out this new weapon, which will also be used sooner or later against naughty French citizens.
Funny, no one was outraged when the National Front co-opted the national colors for its logo. My blaspheming friends, you’d better act quick if you want to have your fun. In the stunted, fearful, sclerotic, mean-spirited, and bitter France of today, pissing on the flame logo of the National Front will soon be designated a desecration of the flag and cost you €1,500.
Charlie Hebdo has never been charged under the law criminalizing the desecration of the flag. It would appear that the law has not been applied since the Saïdi affair, but it’s still on the books and the reactionaries will resort to it one of these days, since there’s no law preventing them from running for office and getting elected. Come to think of it, apparently, it’s not showing a lack of respect for the Republic to risk putting the keys to the Élysée palace in the pudgy hands of the extreme right.
Here’s another, equally absurd illustration of the campaign to recognize republican blasphemy, modeled on religious blasphemy.
On September 17, 2010, four Islamists dressed in black are haranguing a crowd in central Limoges. One of the men has a megaphone, while two of his pals hold up a black banner on which the profession of the Muslim faith is inscribed in white Arabic script. The speaker, sporting a beard and a white skullcap, brandishes a copy of the French Penal Code while denouncing its “3,000 pages,” which supposedly protect individual rights. And yet, among these 3,000 pages, “not one line protects the rights of Muslims.” “In France, you have the right to be Islamophobic,” he concludes, outraged, as he hurls the Penal Code to the ground. “Since the book doesn’t protect us, we will not respect it. Until it has been amended, this book, and no other, deserves to be burned!” Rather than burn it, he kicks it away. The event was recorded, and the video is surely still hanging around somewhere on YouTube.
What became of the firebrand? His name is Mohamed Achamlane, and he was the leader of a tiny Islamist group calling itself Forsane Alizza—the Knights of Pride—that was dissolved in February 2012. He committed acts far worse than throwing books on the ground, and was brought to justice. But for his lack
On December 22, 2010, for the first time, a man was found guilty of desecration of the French flag under the terms of the decree. A first offense was not too costly—Mr. Saïdi was given a suspended €750 fine for having broken a flagpole bearing the tricolor flag at the prefecture, the provincial government headquarters in Nice. The previous day, Mr. Saïdi, an Algerian who had gone there to renew his working papers, blew a gasket when he was asked once again to come back another time. He grabbed the flagpole set up in the lobby, snapped it in two, and threw it at the functionary, missing him. Two police officers subdued him—with some difficulty, it would seem.
The Alpes-Maritime prefecture logically charged him with “destruction of public property and damage to a symbol of the French Republic.” Since it was now allowed to do so, it threw in the charge of “desecration of the tricolor flag.” The functionaries involved also filed charges. And Mr. Saïdi, in addition to being found guilty of desecration, copped a four-month suspended jail sentence for insurrection.
Was the flag desecration decree necessary to bring the hothead to justice? Clearly not. Damage to public property and insurrection would have sufficed. But in the atmosphere that had been deliberately created by the government of the time by promoting a debate on national identity, the opportunity to prosecute a foreigner—better yet, an Algerian—for desecration was too good to pass up. The prefecture, an instrument of the discriminatory policies of the Sarkozian state, needed to test out this new weapon, which will also be used sooner or later against naughty French citizens.
Funny, no one was outraged when the National Front co-opted the national colors for its logo. My blaspheming friends, you’d better act quick if you want to have your fun. In the stunted, fearful, sclerotic, mean-spirited, and bitter France of today, pissing on the flame logo of the National Front will soon be designated a desecration of the flag and cost you €1,500.
Charlie Hebdo has never been charged under the law criminalizing the desecration of the flag. It would appear that the law has not been applied since the Saïdi affair, but it’s still on the books and the reactionaries will resort to it one of these days, since there’s no law preventing them from running for office and getting elected. Come to think of it, apparently, it’s not showing a lack of respect for the Republic to risk putting the keys to the Élysée palace in the pudgy hands of the extreme right.
Here’s another, equally absurd illustration of the campaign to recognize republican blasphemy, modeled on religious blasphemy.
On September 17, 2010, four Islamists dressed in black are haranguing a crowd in central Limoges. One of the men has a megaphone, while two of his pals hold up a black banner on which the profession of the Muslim faith is inscribed in white Arabic script. The speaker, sporting a beard and a white skullcap, brandishes a copy of the French Penal Code while denouncing its “3,000 pages,” which supposedly protect individual rights. And yet, among these 3,000 pages, “not one line protects the rights of Muslims.” “In France, you have the right to be Islamophobic,” he concludes, outraged, as he hurls the Penal Code to the ground. “Since the book doesn’t protect us, we will not respect it. Until it has been amended, this book, and no other, deserves to be burned!” Rather than burn it, he kicks it away. The event was recorded, and the video is surely still hanging around somewhere on YouTube.
What became of the firebrand? His name is Mohamed Achamlane, and he was the leader of a tiny Islamist group calling itself Forsane Alizza—the Knights of Pride—that was dissolved in February 2012. He committed acts far worse than throwing books on the ground, and was brought to justice. But for his lack
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