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CRIME

Killing of Jewish man puts crime in focus ahead of French vote

The death of a Jewish man killed in a possible anti-Semitic attack has placed crime at the heart of France's presidential election campaign just days ahead of voting.

Jeremy Cohen was hit by a tram in Bobigny in February, while fleeing from a gang.
Jeremy Cohen was hit by a tram in Bobigny in February, while fleeing from a gang. Opponents of French President Emmanuel Macron say that this was an antisemitic attack that was covered up. (Photo by JACQUES DEMARTHON / AFP)

Pushed by far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, a viral video showing Jeremy Cohen being run over by a tram while being chased by a gang northeast of Paris in February prompted President Emmanuel Macron to weigh into the controversy.

“We have all been devastated by the scenes that have been made public and I want to express my solidarity and my support for the family of Jeremy Cohen,” Macron told reporters on a pre-election visit to Brittany.

He called for “complete clarity” over what happened while urging that Cohen’s death does not become the subject of “political manipulations”.

A member of Macron’s office had also spoken to the victim’s father, who has alleged that prosecutors were slow to take up the case and properly investigate the death.

France has witnessed a number of shocking anti-Semitic robberies and murders in recent years, in addition to jihadist attacks that have seen the Jewish community targeted.

The country votes on Sunday in presidential elections that polls indicate are likely to be a contest between Macron and far-right veteran Marine Le Pen, who is gaining momentum.

Though crime and immigration were major themes during campaigning last year, they have been eclipsed by worries about the rising cost of living and the current war in Ukraine.

Viral video

Cohen’s father, Gerald, told the TMPM show on Canal+ on Monday night that his children had had to put up posters themselves appealing for witnesses.

They tracked down a video showing Cohen being punched and then pursued by a gang of around 10 people, which has since gone viral on social media.

“We didn’t understand what was happening because we had confidence in the justice system,” Gerald Cohen said. “We didn’t understand why we had to collect the evidence, why we had to do all this.”

Zemmour, who is of Jewish origin, tweeted: “Is he dead because he was Jewish? Why has this scandal been covered up?”

The local prosecutor’s office in Bobingy said a probe had been opened to determine the cause of his death, and a second homicide investigation began in late March.

Cohen wore the kippa skullcap as a cultural signifier and was identifiable as Jewish, but his father has also said he might have been targeted because of his “light” mental handicap.

“We can’t rule out an anti-Semitic motive, but we can’t conclude that this was an anti-Semitic crime,” the family’s lawyer Franck Serfati told TPMP.

While Zemmour and Le Pen both suggested the crime had been covered up, hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon said “the question that needs to be asked is why families need to do their own investigations.

“Normally it’s the police,” he said.

Bobigny is part of the Seine-Saint-Denis department, France’s poorest area with the highest levels of violent crime on the mainland, according to official statistics.

Zemmour has called it “a foreign enclave” and a symbol of the “colonisation” of France by immigrants.

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CRIME

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The head of France's top cinema institution Dominique Boutonnat denied sexually assaulting his godson as he went on trial Friday in a case that has led to calls for him to step down.

French cinema boss on trial for sexual assault

The trial comes as French cinema reels from a renewed #MeToo reckoning that has seen several big names, including acting legend Gerard Depardieu, accused of sexual abuse.

READ ALSO: French actor Gérard Depardieu to be tried for sexual assault in October

Activists have denounced Boutonnat’s continued leadership of the National Centre of Cinema (CNC), whose role includes overseeing measures to curb sexual violence in the industry.

His godson accuses him of trying to masturbate him during a holiday in Greece in 2020 when he was 19.

“I looked at him to find my godfather and that’s when I saw someone completely different… It was someone using me to masturbate,” the godson, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court.

Boutonnat responded in court that it was his godson who had initiated the situation and kissed him.

“I feel bad about leaving an ambiguous situation, but to say there was a sexual assault is false,” he told the court.

He was placed under investigation in February 2021 but still reappointed by the government as head of the CNC in July 2022.

Training to prevent abuse has in recent months become obligatory for films seeking public funding via the CNC.

The CNC told AFP that the case against Boutonnat came from “the private sphere” and had no relation to its activities.

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