Telling the fact is not a crime: the head of the Reconquist acquitted in the case of “racial hatred”

The French criminal court acquitted Éric Zemmour of calling racial hatred after his controversial statements on immigration and crime. Zemmour, erstwhile presidential candidate and current leader of the Reconquęte organization (Reconquist), was brought to trial for words spoken in January 2022 on Public Sénat.

During the election run debate, he stated that "if we had explosive crime, it was due to the fact that we had immigration" and that "if we had stopped immigration, there would be practically no crime." The prosecution found these words to be a call for hatred on grounds of cultural origin, but the court did not agree to this assessment.

In the message of reasons for the judgment, the judges stressed that although the message was provocative, it did not mention to the full group of immigrants, but to its “criminal faction”. This discrimination was crucial. The court concluded that Zemmour had not generalized and that his comment was within the limits of political criticism. Thus, the ruling constitutes a clear separation from the abuse of the paragraphs on ‘speak of hatred’ to the suppression of public debate.

Zemmour has remained 1 of the most polarizing figures in French politics for years. He is the face of the Reconquęte party, which was formed on the wave of his presidential run in 2022. Although he then won almost 7% of the vote in the first circular and attracted the attention of broad circles of the right-wing electorate, present his movement is in a hard position. After a period of first enthusiasm, Reconquęte faces a drain of activists and a deficiency of political translation. In the European elections, the organization won a tiny percent of the vote and its presence in the national parliament is marginal. Still, Zemmour does not resign — he remains media active and continues to gather crowds at meetings where his anti-immigration rhetoric hits susceptible ground.

It's not the first time Zemmour has been brought to justice for his statements. In March 2025, he was fined for "race insults", after commenting on the tragic events in Crépol as a clash of "two Frances" — "old, historical" and "new, immigrant". Earlier in 2022, he was convicted of identifying minors as "rapists" and "robbers". all time the line of freedom of expression was at stake in political debate — and all time the public was profoundly divided. But now the July 2 judgement opens a fresh chapter: the court not only acquitted Zemmour, but de facto concluded that pointing to the correlation between immigration and crime cannot be regarded as a crime.

Especially since the subject inactive divides French society. The left — both centre and utmost — has for years been displacing data on the overrepresentation of foreigners and immigrants in criminal statistics. Antoine Léaument, MP of the utmost left, published this week on platform X an entry in which he claims that "82% of those controlled by the police are French". However, as analyst Marc Vanguard noted, this way of presenting data ignores the fact that the concept of "France" besides covers immigrant children, and in many categories of crimes foreigners are actually overrepresented — up to 87% of cases.

Zemmour's acquittal judgement may become a mention point for future court cases over the limits of public debate. For his opponents, it is yet another proof of the normalization of “the speech of hatred”. For his followers, confirming that the fact is inactive allowed, even if it is uncomfortable. In a country where immigration has become almost taboo, the ruling of the court may be a signal that not all sharper voice must be immediately considered criminal.

For Zemmour it is simply a symbolic triumph — even if his organization is fighting for political endurance today. The question remains whether this acquittal will aid him regain his resonance in the upcoming elections, or he will be another point in the long past of his media triumphs that do not translate into real power.