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French police chief suspended over ‘racist’ New Year card

France's interior minister has suspended a senior policeman over a card celebrating the New Year deemed to be blatantly racist at a time when the force faces accusations of prejudice towards people of colour.

Published: 11 January 2021 08:20 CET
French police chief suspended over 'racist' New Year card
Illustration photo: AFP

The card for New Year, sent by a police station outside Paris, shows a cartoon of a white policeman beckoning a black man to approach him as he brandishes a taser.

“Come closer. My taser is recharging in the cigarette lighter,” says the slogan in the cartoon, below which is written “the commissioner and the police… wish you a very happy 2021.”

 

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote on Twitter late on Saturday that an investigation has been launched and the commissioner questioned. “He has been suspended,” he added.

The cartoon “shocked a lot of people due to the racist connotations,” said an interior ministry official, who asked not to be named. “It is incomprehensible.”

The identity of the commissioner and exact location of the police station have not been revealed.

French police have been under fire over repeated instances where black or Arab suspects have been roughly arrested or beaten, prompting accusations of institutionalised racism in the force.

The beating of black music producer Michel Zecler in November prompted a storm of controversy, with four police charged over the assault.

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POLITICS

Macron ready to ‘open debate’ on nuclear European defence

French President Emmanuel Macron is ready to "open the debate" about the role of nuclear weapons in a common European defence, he said in an interview published Saturday.

Published: 28 April 2024 13:10 CEST
Macron ready to 'open debate' on nuclear European defence

It was just the latest in a series of speeches in recent months in which he has stressed the need for a European-led defence strategy.

“I am ready to open this debate which must include anti-missile defence, long-range capabilities, and nuclear weapons for those who have them or who host American nuclear armaments,” the French president said in an interview with regional press group EBRA.

“Let us put it all on the table and see what really protects us in a credible manner,” he added.

France will “maintain its specificity but is ready to contribute more to the defence of Europe”.

The interview was carried out Friday during a visit to Strasbourg.

Following Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union, France is the only member of the bloc to possess its own nuclear weapons.

In a speech Thursday to students at Paris’ Sorbonne University, Macron warned that Europe faced an existential threat from Russian aggression.

He called on the continent to adopt a “credible” defence strategy less dependent on the United States.

“Being credible is also having long-range missiles to dissuade the Russians.

“And then there are nuclear weapons: France’s doctrine is that we can use them when our vital interests are threatened,” he added.

“I have already said there is a European dimension to these vital interests.”

Constructing a common European defence policy has long been a French objective, but it has faced opposition from other EU countries who consider NATO’s protection to be more reliable.

However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the possible return of the isolationist Donald Trump as US president has given new life to calls for greater European defence autonomy.

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