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Demonstration in memory of the teacher Samuel Paty, murdered by an Islamist in Toulouse (October 2020)
Photo: Frà dà ric Scheiber / imago images / Hans Lucas
Several attacks hit France last year.
In the future, the country wants to take stronger action against Islamists.
After months of deliberation, the members of the French National Assembly have now approved a controversial law to "strengthen republican principles".
After the decapitation of the teacher Samuel Paty in the autumn, hate calls on the Internet are to be punished more severely in the future.
In addition, the government wants to limit the influence of Turkey and other countries on French mosques.
The new law should allow mosques or religious associations to be closed even faster if hatred and violence are preached in them.
The amendment also provides for up to three years imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros against anyone who "puts the life of another person at risk by disseminating information about his or her private and family life or his job."
History teacher Paty had been severely threatened after showing Mohammed cartoons in class.
His name and school were also published on the Internet.
Left and right apparently want to appeal to the Constitutional Council
Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said: "We are giving ourselves the means to fight against those who misuse religion, to question the values of the republic." Prime Minister Jean Castex emphasized several times that it is not directed against religion.
However, critics see elements in them that disadvantage the Muslim part of the population.
Amnesty International also fears discrimination.
Conservatives, on the other hand, consider the regulations to be insufficient.
Among other things, they had called for a headscarf ban in public spaces.
According to a report in the newspaper Le Figaro, both left and right want to appeal to the Constitutional Council.
This would then have to check whether the law is compatible with the constitution.
When the plans were presented in October, President Emmanuel Macron attested that Islam had a "problem" with radical currents.
This led to protests, some of which were violent, in Muslim countries.
The Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan attacked Macron personally.
The law is also likely to reduce the influence of the Turkish umbrella organization Ditib in France, which supports mosques financially and sends imams.
Ditib is also criticized in Germany for its proximity to Erdoğan.
asc / dpa / AFP
