YouTuber Nadjelika will appear in court on January 6th after the French government charged her with “aggravated insults to a public official” following the release of a video where she yelled racist remarks at a black, French policeman during an anti-police protest in Paris in June of this past year.
Nadjelika has nearly 600,000 followers on the video-sharing platform where she talks about her personal life, her sex life, and social justice or racial issues.
Last summer, French “anti-racist” groups jumped on the wave of Black Lives Matter protests in the United States to organize anti-police movements. They seized on the 2016 death of Adama Traore, a Malian-French man who died in custody after resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. Demonstrations occurred in several large French cities, at times garnering over 20,000 participants.
Nadjelika attended one such protest in Paris in June. She was recorded singling out a black, French policeman for being an “uncle Tom” – a racially charged term aimed at shaming non-Marxist, non-violent minorities.
« La Youtubeuse Nadjélika, accuse violemment ce policier noir d’être un vendu »
C’est à cause de débiles mentaux comme ça que certaines personnes font l’apologie de Blancs vs Noirs alors que c’est juste tout le monde vs le racisme et les violences policières#BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/oDXf6QPYL2
— Anto🥱 (@Antoxrx08) June 3, 2020
She yelled, in French: “What a shame! It’s a shame for all of you, but mostly for you! Shame on you! You sold out! You are on their side!”
France’s government decided to bring charges against her under “insult to public official” laws because, according to the head of the Paris police, “there is no race in our police force, nor are there oppressors or oppressed. Our officers defend liberty, equality, and fraternity!”
French social justice organizations have come to the Nadjelika’s defense, stating that the right to denounce systemic racism in the French police force, as well as the country as a whole, should be upheld.
These same groups have previously denounced the dissolution of the national anti-Islamophobia committee which was accused by the French government of harboring and promoting radical Islamic ideas. At the same time, these so-called “anti-racist” groups call for conservative commentators such as Eric Zemmour, who has denounced the rise of radical Islam and anti-French sentiments among immigrant populations, to be de-platformed, fined, and even imprisoned under racial incitement laws.
France does not have an equivalent to America’s First Amendment. As a result, the government has passed several hate speech laws over the past decades. If found guilty, Nadjelika could face up to one year in jail and a 15,000 euro ($18,400) fine.
It is worth noting that French courts automatically reduce sentences by about 20 to 25 percent as a result of criminal reform laws passed under socialist administrations.
