French far-right presidential candidate Eric Zemour has been sentenced by a Paris court to pay a € 10,000 fine for inciting racial hatred for his statements about unaccompanied minor refugees.
Eric Zemour was absent from the courtroom, as was the case during the November hearing.
A former political commentator, Zemour is vying with far-right candidate Marine Le Pen and conservative Valerie Pecres for the presidency over center-right President Emanuel Macron in the April presidential election.
The case concerns comments he made in 2020 on the right-wing CNews channel about immigrants arriving as unaccompanied minors: “They have no reason to be here, they are thieves, they are murderers, they are rapists, they do nothing else, they have to be sent back “, he had stated.
For a few weeks last year, opinion polls showed that Zemour, who also has previous convictions for inciting racial hatred, had a chance to run second in the presidential election and face Macron in the second round. Today he comes fourth in the polls.
Zemour said he would appeal the court ruling. He insisted on the comments he had made in 2020, adding that the court condemned him for expressing his views. A CNews executive was also fined for Zemour’s comments, lawyers said.
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