France bans extreme-right group after rally violence

Zouaves Paris have been banned after being blamed for beating up anti-racism activists at a Zemmour rally in December.

Published: 5 January 2022 14:52 CET

A torn poster of the French far-right media pundit and presidential hopeful, Eric Zemmour in Paris. A group that beat up anti-racism demonstrators at one of his rallies has been banned. (Photo by JOEL SAGET / AFP)

France Wednesday banned an extreme-right youth group known as the “Zouaves Paris” blamed for attacks on anti-racism activists at a raucous rally last month by far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemmour.

“The group ‘Zouaves Paris’ was banned this morning at a cabinet meeting, in line with the instructions of the President” Emmanuel Macron, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter, saying the group had incited “hatred and violence”.

The decree prohibiting the group, founded in 2017 and believed to have only around 20 hardcore members, said it “propagated an openly racist discourse” that included “symbols of Nazi ideology” and “white superiority”.

Members were accused of assaulting activists from SOS Racisme at the December 5 rally by Zemmour shortly after the controversial pundit announced his candidacy for the 2022 presidential elections.

Its leader Marc de Cacqueray-Valmenier, 23, was detained and charged with assault. The group takes its name from elite units of French troops who fought in Africa in the 19th century.

Zemmour is accused by opponents of being a racist, an allegation he denies. He has repeatedly however criticised Islam and immigration, which he says are harming French identity.

The rally was marked by clashes with anti-racism activists, and Zemmour himself was at one point put in a headlock and suffered an injury to his wrist.

Zemmour’s campaign enjoyed a surge in popularity ahead of the declaration of his candidacy, but it appears to have slackened in recent weeks, although most polls still predict he will win around 15 percent in the first round.

He is currently facing a struggle to muster the 500 signatures needed from French mayors to formally register his candidacy.

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France has in recent weeks been shaken by a series of attacks on schoolchildren by their peers, in particularly the fatal beating earlier this month of Shemseddine, 15, outside Paris.

The far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party has accused Attal of not doing enough on security as the anti-immigration party soars ahead of the government coalition in polls for the June 9th election.

Speaking in Viry-Chatillon, the town where Shemseddine was killed, Attal condemned the “addiction of some of our adolescents to violence”, calling for “a real surge of authority… to curb violence”.

“There are twice as many adolescents involved in assault cases, four times more in drug trafficking, and seven times more in armed robberies than in the general population,” he said.

Measures will include expanding compulsory school attendance to all the days of the week from 8am to 6pm for children of collège age (11 to 15).

“In the day the place to be is at school, to work and to learn,” said Attal, who was also marking 100 days in office since being appointed in January by President Emmanuel Macron to turn round the government’s fortunes.

Parents needed to take more responsibility, said Attal, warning that particularly disruptive children would have sanctions marked on their final grades.

OPINION: No, France is not suffering an unprecedented wave of violence

Promoting an old-fashioned back-to-basics approach to school authority, he said “You break something – you repair it. You make a mess – you clear it up. And if you disobey – we teach you respect.”

Attal also floated the possibility of children in exceptional cases being denied the right to special treatment on account of their minority in legal cases.

Thus 16-year-olds could be forced to immediately appear in court after violations “like adults”, he said. In France, the age of majority is 18, in accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Macron and Attal face an uphill struggle to reverse the tide ahead of the European elections. Current polls point to the risk of a major debacle that would overshadow the rest of the president’s second mandate up to 2027.

A poll this week by Ifop-Fiducial showed the RN on 32.5 percent with the government coalition way behind on 18 percent.