Thirteen go on trial in France over 'racist' insult targeting singer Aya Nakamura
Thirteen people will appear in a Paris court on Wednesday, June 4, over a "racist" insult targeting French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, who faced criticism from the far right and harassment over her performance at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
The defendants, linked to extreme-right group Les Natifs (the Natives), are on trial for unveiling a banner in March 2024 that read: "No way, Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market" – a reference to Mali's capital, where the singer was born.
Nakamura's performance sparked a political firestorm among far-right politicians and conservatives in a reaction French President Emmanuel Macron at the time described as "racist" and "shocking."
The 13 defendants, between 20 and 31-years-old, now face charges of publicly inciting hatred or violence – or complicity in such incitement – on the grounds of ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion. Les Natifs espouses the far-right, white nationalist so-called "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, according to which white Europeans are being deliberately supplanted by non-white immigrants.
Nakamura responded to the group's stunt on social media, writing: "You can be racist, but you're not deaf... and that's what really bothers you! I'm suddenly the number one topic of debate – but what do I really owe you? Nothing." The singer and anti-discrimination NGOs filed complaints with the Paris prosecutor's office over the incident, which was investigated by France's anti-hate crimes organization, OCLCH.
'Shock public opinion'
The 30-year-old is the world's most listened to Francophone singer, and her July 2024 performance on one of Paris's fabled bridges, the Pont des Arts, was among the most-watched moments of the opening ceremony. But when rumors began circulating in March that the Mali-born and Paris-raised superstar was going to perform, far-right politicians and groups vehemently criticized the decision.
An appearance by Nakamura, who mixes French with Arabic and Malian slang, would "humiliate" the country, far-right leader Marine Le Pen suggested, taking aim at her supposed "vulgarity" and "the fact that she doesn't sing in French."
Far-right media amplified Les Natifs' banner which they unfurled along the capital's Seine River, another in a series of provocative stunts by the group which it shares with thousands of followers on social media.
In March, the group covered portraits of veiled women on display in a church in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis with black sheets. One of the 13 defendants set to stand trial on Wednesday, Stanislas T., 24, will also face charges in that case on Thursday. And in February, they plastered an Air Algeria office in Paris with posters reading "Re-migrate 'light' from France to Algeria, for a one-way ticket with no return" written over a single suitcase.
Nakamura's complaint is not the only one stemming from last summer's opening ceremony to head to trial. A French court in May found seven people guilty of bullying Thomas Jolly, the artistic director for the opening ceremony who is openly gay. And five people are to stand trial in September over similar complaints from Barbara Butch, a French DJ and lesbian activist who starred in a controversial scene during the event.
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