France To Probe Hate Groups, Radical Islamic Bodies
The French security forces are set to carry out “numerous probes” into online hate and radical Islam groups in wake of the beheading of a teacher by a teenager, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Monday.
“Not a minute’s respite for the enemies of the Republic. More than 80 online hate investigations following the Friday attack. 51 associative structures will see visits from state services all week long and several of them will be dissolved,” Darmanin wrote on Twitter, as quoted by Sputnik.
Darmanin proposed the dissolution of CCIF (Collective Against Islamophobia in France) and BarakaCity groups, the minister specified in a separate tweet, describing them as “enemies of the Republic.”
The French Senate earlier on Monday “deliberated” a draft law that seeks to prohibit justification of crimes with ethnic or religious motives on constitutional grounds, according to Sputnik.
“Believing that community aspirations are making themselves heard more and more, Philippe BAS, Bruno RETAILLEAU, Herve MARSEILLE and several of their colleagues wish, through this proposed constitutional law, to reaffirm that the laws of the Republic prevail over standards arising from religious convictions or rules based on ethnicity,” the Senate said in a statement.
Sputnik reported that that the bill envisions amending Article 1 of the French Constitution, allowing the equality of all before the law regardless of origin, race or religion, by affirming the principle, under which “no individual or group may rely on their origin or religion to exempt themselves from respect for the common rule.”
The statement further read that the bill also seeks to complete Article 4 of the Constitution with a “provision protecting freedom” to form and manage activities of political parties with respect for secularism “in order to prevent communitarian parties.”
On Friday, French history teacher Samuel Paty was beheaded in the outskirts of Paris. The main suspect of the attack, a Moscow-born Chechen-teenager who identified as Abdullakh Anzorov, was shot dead by security forces.
The attack came after 47-year-old Paty showed cartoons of the Islamic prophet Muhammad to his students at the school in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, north-west of Paris.
The investigation into the matter continues, following the Defense Council meeting on Sunday, chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron, who ordered the strengthening of security in schools across France after the fall break.
According to the media reports, 11 people, including members of the killer’s family, have been taken into custody over the deadly attack.
On Sunday tens of thousands of people participated in rallies across France to honour slain teacher Samuel Paty and to defend freedom of expression. (ANI)
