Antifascist killed in Paris

An antifascist activist was killed by boneheads from JNR in Paris around 1 hour ago. More details will follow..

 

There has been widespread horror and condemnation in France on Thursday, after an 18-year-old student activist was left brain dead in an attack by far-right skinheads in Paris. One politician has called for far-right groups to be disbanded.

Clément Méric, an 18-year-old student at Sciences Po in Paris, was “violently attacked” by a group of three skinheads, including one woman, near Saint-Lazare train station on Wednesday evening, it emerged on Thursday.

Méric, known for his radical left-wing activism, was left brain dead by the beating, which has provoked a flood of horrified and angry reactions from many different quarters in France.

French President François Hollande, speaking on an official visit to Japan, said he "condemned the attack in the strongest possible terms."

"I have given the most rigorous possible instructions so that the authors of the odious act can be arrested at the earliest possible juncture," he said in a statement.

The Parti de Gauche (Left Party) reflected the mood of many, especially on the Left, in France.

"The horror of fascism has just killed right in the middle of Paris,” they said in a statement.

“Violently beaten to the ground by a group of activists from the extreme right, manifestly from the group JNR (Jeune Nationaliste Revolutionnaire), left motionless, he was declared this evening to be in a state of brain death at Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris,” the statement added.

For his part, the leader of JNR, Serge Ayoub, also known as 'Batskin', has denied his group's involvement in the attack.

"That's absolutely false," he said.

An attacker 'wearing knuckle dusters'

A number of eyewitness reports, as well as a police source quoted by TF1 television, indicate that a group of left-wing activists had gone clothes shopping on Wednesday evening on rue Caumartin in the 9th arrondissement of Paris.

After far-right activists entered the same shop, there was an angry exchange of words and insults. When the group including Meric left the store, the extreme-right group had "brought reinforcements."

The victim was hit by a man wearing what appeared to be knuckle dusters, according to initial reports.

One eyewitness, named only as Aurelia, described to French reporters the horrifying scenes she witnessed.

"I was out doing some shopping, when I found myself face to face with the attackers," who she told reporters had shaved heads and wore leather jackets.

"I saw the young man falling, and his head hitting a bollard. There was blood coming out of his ears and nose, and then he went into convulsions."

"He had a huge lump at the back of his head, and his face was covered in blood," she added.

Condemnation on all sides

There has been widespread anger and condemnation in France, from all sides of the political spectrum.

Bertrand Delanoe, the Socialist mayor of Paris described his "horror" at hearing about the attack, while French Interior Minister Manuel Valls had vowed to "eradicate this kind of violence, which bears the mark of the extreme right."

Harlem Désir, president of the governing Socialist Party has announced a rally in honour of Meric, to take place in Paris this evening.

For his part, Front Gauche (Left Front) leader Jean-Luc Mélénchon has called on Valls "to disband groups on the extreme right who, in the last few weeks, have committed numerous acts of violence in Paris and across the country."

Pierre Laurent, president of the French Communist Party has announced a rally in Paris this evening, along with the Parti Gauche, with whom his party forms the Left Front.

On the other side of the political spectrum, main centre-right opposition UMP leader Jean-François Copé took to Twitter to strongly condemn what he called a "barbaric attack."

Labeling the assault "an exercise in hatred," newly-selected UMP candidate for Paris mayor, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, told her Twitter followers, "such violence is a cancer on democracy."

Calls for civility amid recriminations

As well as condemnation of the attack on Méric, there have been recriminations and counter-accusations between some ideological opponents in France.
Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right National Front, made sure to distance her party from the violence.

She called the attack on the young student repulsive and detestable but said far-right groups such as the JNR had no ties with her party.

Le Pen reacted angrily when it was put to her that one of the three aggressors was seen wearing a t-shirt with her party's logo.

"Making this kind of association is scandalous, I'd like very much to know who this witness is," Le Pen told RTL radio. "You have no proof at all."

French industrialist and pro-gay marriage activist Pierre Bergé has caused a stir by implicating the anti-gay marriage movement, known as 'Manif Pour Tous' (Demo for all) in the
attack on Méric.

"Despite everyone who's insulting me, I say again: the Manif pour tous accepted into their ranks these fascists who killed Clément. For them to reflect on."
Leader of the Manif pour tous, comedian Frigide Barjot, has already vowed to sue Bergé, the former partner of the late Yves Saint Laurent, for defamation.

In an effort to prevent and calm such poisonous arguments, French housing minister Cécile Duflot, from the Europe Ecology the Greens party urged her Twitter followers to proceed "without hatred", and "remember against whom, and why you're fighting."

http://www.thelocal.fr/20130606/paris-s ... ght-attack

 

An 18 years old left wing anti-fascist activist, Clément Méric, a student at Sciences Po, was declared brain-dead this morning. He was attacked in the heart of Paris by skinheads.

“ Clément Méric, a student at the Institut d’études politiques de Paris (Science Po) known for his anti-fascist commitment, was killed yesterday in Paris, near the Saint-Lazare train station, by a group of right-wing extremists,” the national secretary of the Parti de Gauche, Alexis Corbiere has written on his blog.

Three young people of a “skinhead appearance”, including a woman, were involved in jostling, exchanges of insults, two groups of young people, according to preliminary results of the investigation by the 1st District - Judicial – Police (DPJ) based on ”eyewitness accounts.”

According to the first elements of the investigation, the skinheads came out and waited “with reinforcements” out in front of the store. The groups of young people then had a very violent altercation.” The victim, Clément, “was struck by one of the skinheads armed with a knuckle-duster. He dropped on the floor, hitting a bonding pad in passing.” (Nouvel Observateur)

The Parti de gauche has declared that,

“l’horreur fasciste vient de tuer en plein Paris”.

The horrors of fascism have just come and killed in the middle of Paris.

They have put responsibility on the Groupe JNR (Jeunesses nationalistes révolutionnaires).

Witnesses say that one of the gang had a Swastika tattoo and another had a Front National T-Shirt.

Links between the murderers and the FN have been vigorously denied by Marine Le Pen this morning on the radio station, RTL.

The FN leader then launched into what the Nouvel Observateur calls a “hallucinatory” defence of the far-right intellectual Dominique Venner who recently committed suicide outside Notre-Dame de Paris in protest at gay marriage.

The JNR have also denied any responsibility (see Libération for latest).

There have been calls to ban the far-right’s street-fighting groups.

Communiqué Solidaires (Hat-Tip Enty) Un militant syndicaliste et antifasciste tué à Paris par l’extrême-droite !

Extract,

Our anger and pain are compounded by the certainty that there remain many – anti-fascist activists, people exposed to homophobia and / or racism – who could and can still be victims.

Today all our thoughts are with his family and his family and his comrade students in Solidaires Etudiant-e-s.

We express our solidarity to all of them.

This heinous act is inseparable from the surge in racist and homophobic attacks over the last months by right-wing extremists. This is the result of a climate of hatred spread, principally, though not exclusively, by the Front National and fascist factions.

 

Thousands of enraged protesters gathered across France on Thursday in homage to a teenage activist who died after being attacked by skinheads. Police have arrested seven suspects in connection with an attack deemed “politically motivated.”

(FILES) This photo taken on April 17, 2013, in Paris, shows Clement Meric. (AFP Photo / Jaques Demarthon)

(FILES) This photo taken on April 17, 2013, in Paris, shows Clement Meric. (AFP Photo / Jaques Demarthon)

More than 15,000 people took to the streets across France following the death of 18-year-old left-wing activist Clement Meric.

At least 6,000 demonstrated in Paris, calling on the government to ban extreme right-wing groups that have become bolder following the legalization of same-sex marriage in the country.

Protesters carried banners emblazoned with “Don’t forget, don’t forgive,” and chanted anti-fascist slogans in the French capital’s 5th and 6th districts, near Notre Dame Cathedral.

“Fascism is gangrene, we either destroy it or it will destroy us,” chanted members of Action Antifasciste Paris-Banlieue, a group in which Clement had been a member.

In Toulouse, demonstrators held banners that read “As some protest, others kill” and “Where is the humanity?”

After the demonstrations, French authorities banned a far-right youth rally against what the protesters called “fascists” set for Saturday in Toulouse. Police said they feared a "serious risk of public disorder" if the rally went ahead.

The city mayor also expressed concern about a planned torchlight march Saturday evening to commemorate the victory of a Christian army in 721 over Muslims besieging the city in the Battle of Toulouse.

Clement Meric was severely beaten by a group of skinheads on Wednesday afternoon and was subsequently rushed to hospital with serious injuries. He passed away on Thursday after being declared brain dead by doctors.

Conflicting reports regarding the attack have emerged, but police said that a group of skinheads exchanged insults and jostled with Meric and a few of his friends in a Paris clothes shop.

The skinheads then waited outside the shop and waylaid the 18-year-old and his compatriots; some reports claimed that the assailants were armed with brass knuckles.

A demonstrator holds up a poster reading, "Clement Meric, 18 years old, forever in our hearts, neither forget, nor forgive" during a demonstration on June 6, 2013. (AFP Photo / Pascal Pavani)

A demonstrator holds up a poster reading, "Clement Meric, 18 years old, forever in our hearts, neither forget, nor forgive" during a demonstration on June 6, 2013. (AFP Photo / Pascal Pavani)

Meric’s death was decried as a “despicable act” by the French government. Several left-wing French parties called for the “dissolution of ultra-violent far-right groups.” Leftist groups also urged French citizens to take action and protest the “horrendous” murder.

In response to allegations that the incident was “politically motivated,” Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Front, issued a statement saying there was “no link” between her party and the skinhead attack.

French political left-wing members hold a banner at the Saint-Michel fountain in Paris to pay homage to Clement Meric on June 6, 2013. (Reuters / Charles Platiau)

French political left-wing members hold a banner at the Saint-Michel fountain in Paris to pay homage to Clement Meric on June 6, 2013. (Reuters / Charles Platiau)

http://rt.com/news/clement-meric-protests-fascism-351/