“Mademoiselle, your first name is an insult to France.
“For these words, pronounced against the columnist Hapsatou Sy, Éric Zemmour was sentenced to a fine of 4,000 euros on Thursday, for “public insult of a racist nature”.
The former presidential candidate is also ordered to pay Hapsatou Sy 3,000 euros in damages, as well as 2,000 euros in legal fees.
Éric Zemmour did not attend the hearing, but was represented by his lawyer, Me Olivier Pardo.
The latter "will recommend" to his client to "appeal against this decision which according to [him] has no legal meaning", he told our colleagues from Ouest France.
On Twitter, Hapsatou Sy welcomed this conviction.
“It is a source of great pride to have stood firm for all these years and to have been able to have Éric Zemmour condemned for racist insults.
My first name is my identity, my origins are my strength, and behind me, I hope that many other French people will feel liberated.
“It is a great satisfaction”, also estimated Me Antoine Vey, his lawyer.
The court ruled in our favor.
"Behind Hapsatou Sy's fight, there is probably the recognition of a whole section of the French population," he added.
1/2 It is a source of great pride to have stood firm during all these years and to have been able to have Éric Zemmour condemned for insulting a racist nature.
My first name is my identity, my origins are my strength, and behind me, I hope that many other French people will feel liberated
— Hapsatou SY (@HapsatouSy) January 12, 2023
During the hearing, which was held in November 2022 before the Paris Criminal Court, a fine of 20,000 euros for "racist insult" was requested against Éric Zemmour, in the form of 100 day-fines of 200 euros per day.
Read alsoHapsatou Sy: “Eric Zemmour ruined my life”
In the absence of Éric Zemmour, his lawyer, Me Olivier Pardo, had pleaded the non-public nature of the comments in question, arguing that they had only been broadcast through the complainant since the channel, aware legal risk, had decided to cut them during editing.
An argument brushed aside by Me Antoine Vey, Hapsatou Sy's counsel, noting that this verbal altercation on the subject of the first names given to French children had taken place in the presence of several dozen people in the context of the filming of a program which was meant to be broadcast.
The facts date back to September 13, 2018 during the filming of the program “Les Terriens du dimanche!
on channel C8.
The host Thierry Ardisson begins by seeking the opinion of his guest Éric Zemmour on the first name of the daughter of Rachida Dati (Zohra).
The polemicist then asserts that the first names given to French children must “normally” be found in the list of Christian saints on the calendar.
"Your mother was wrong"
Columnist in the same program, Hapsatou Sy, born in France in 1981 from a Senegalese father and a Mauritanian mother, is indignant by evoking her personal case.
Éric Zemmour does not disassemble.
“Your mother was wrong to call you that…” he says, referring to his first name common in Africa, much less so in France.
"So what would you like my name to be?"
asks Hapsatou Sy.
“Corinne, that would suit you very well…” retorts Éric Zemmour, triggering laughter from Thierry Ardisson and part of the public in this sequence broadcast on C8 on September 16, 2018.
But during the filming, the former columnist goes even further by making remarks likely to be criminally punished and not broadcast by the channel.
"It's your first name that is an insult to France," he says.
France is not a virgin land.
It is a land with a history, with a past.
And the first names embody the history of France.
»
VIDEO.
“Sunday Earthlings”: Hapsatou Sy reveals the sequence of the clash with Éric Zemmour
Advised then by Me Éric Dupond-Moretti (now Keeper of the Seals), Hapsatou Sy, 39, filed a complaint for provocation to discrimination and hatred because of his origin.
Éric Zemmour is indicted for racial insult.
Following this conflict with Éric Zemmour, Hapsatou Sy resigned from the Canal + group.
The columnist denounced the channel's lack of support.
In 2016, the polemicist had been definitively sentenced to a fine of 3,000 euros for incitement to religious hatred.
He is subject to numerous procedures.
In 2023, he must be warned in eight trials in Paris after complaints against comments he made.