A 12-month prison sentence with suspended probation was requested Friday at the Besançon court against two students who appeared for
"serious degradation, in a meeting, to the detriment of a good of public utility, and with a racist purpose ".
In November, they attacked the statue of Victor Hugo sculpted by Ousmane Sow, then freshly restored on the Esplanade des droits de l'homme.
The renovation of the work had raised some questions, especially with the widow of the Senegalese sculptor, because of the dark complexion of the subject.
The public prosecutor's office matched its requisitions against the two students, aged 20 and 22, with a probationary suspension of two years, with the obligation to perform 140 hours of community service, and an additional sentence. of ineligibility for 5 years.
Judgment was reserved for February 17.
Both students face up to ten years in prison.
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“They measured the seriousness of their act, it's a good thing. They will have to think about the future more calmly, but they are young people who can think intelligently,”
defense lawyer Julien Vernet told AFP after the hearing.
The defendants "
went to a repentant, but they did not return to the issue of racism
", regretted to Radio Bip the mayor of Besançon, Anne Vignot, who had filed a civil action and was present at the hearing. .
“
I hope I will have the opportunity to show them that they are in a fundamental error.
»
That's good, it sends a very strong message.
Samuel Thomas, president of the association for the fight against racism La Maison des potes
“
The court must sanction this type of act
”, added Samuel Thomas, president of the association for the fight against racism La Maison des potes, also a civil party.
“
The facts were in November, less than six months after we have the trial, that's good, it sends a very strong message.
»
“Whiten” the statue
At the end of November, the two history students, former members of the National Rally, had covered the face of a statue of Victor Hugo in Besançon with white paint, before affixing a sign bearing the supremacist mention
"White Power"
and a cross .
Celtic, a popular symbol of neo-Nazi groups.
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The statue was being restored, and a media controversy had developed over the color, considered too dark by some, of the author's face, although the restoration was not complete.
“The original face was flesh-colored.
It looks like a black Victor Hugo, which was never Ousmane's intention”
, was then surprised Béatrice Soulé, the widow of Ousmane Sow.
"
At the initiative of local nationalists, the statue of Victor Hugo (...) has been restored and now sports a beautiful white color, very French, very Besançon, very 19th century
", announced shortly after a message of claim , posted on the La Cocarde Étudiante website.
About 100 anti-racism protesters were gathered outside the court ahead of the hearing, police said.
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