A specialized office of the gendarmerie was seized within the framework of the preliminary investigation for “
public provocation to racial hatred
” opened after an anti-migrant operation in the Pyrenees of the Generation Identity group, declared Monday February 15th the prosecutor of Saint -Gaudens (Haute-Garonne) to AFP.
Read also: Identity generation in the sights of the state
"
I contacted the hate crimes control division of the Central Office for the fight against crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes (OCLCH) which will work in co-referral with the research brigade of Saint-Gaudens gendarmerie
, ”added Christophe Amunzateguy.
Referral to this specialized office will make it possible to conduct hearings throughout the country and to carry out "
more in-depth analyzes
", according to the magistrate.
Videos had been disseminated, in particular on the YouTube site, with people who took part in this demonstration "
by making comments which, in my opinion, entered into the qualifications which could be retained in particular incitement to hatred, in particular online
" insisted the prosecutor.
Read also: Identity generation: Marine Le Pen defends freedom of expression
In mid-January, around thirty activists from the far-right group had deployed between Luchon (Haute-Garonne) and the Spanish border.
With cars screened "
Defend Europe
", they had settled at the Col du Portillon, some had gone on hikes using a drone to monitor the border.
These activists thus affirmed that they wanted to fight against the “
terrorist and migratory risk in the Pyrenees
”.
"
I have facts, I want to deal with them
", explained the prosecutor.
These activists "
can say things that are not fact, there is freedom of expression.
But there is what we can say and what we cannot.
What is criminal and what is freedom of expression,
"he insisted.
"
I am not saying that I would necessarily have a prosecution at the end, I say that I make an investigation and at the end of this investigation I will establish or not a criminal offense
", he concluded.
In December, Génération Identitaire and three of its executives had been released by the Grenoble Court of Appeal, in the case of anti-migrant operations carried out in 2018 in the Alps, on the Franco-Italian border.
The Ministry of the Interior, which accuses Generation Identity
of
"
assumed hate speech
" and its organization into "
private militia
", has just initiated the procedure for the dissolution of the group, long demanded by several associations and political parties.