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Georges Freche, the president of the Languedoc Roussillon Regional
Council, has been in court this week for two counts. In the first case,
Freche was found guilty of defamation of the police force and was fined
€1500.
The case came about when the famously outspoken politician
accused the police force of starting the fires that raged across
France. The charge against Mr. Freche had originally been relaxed by
the Montpellier High Court, but the Court of Appeal overturned that
ruling and set the symbolic fine. Mr. Freche`s lawyer said that they
would be appealing the decision at the next level of the judicial
system and would take it to the European Courts of Human Rights if
necessary. Mr. Freche was in court again later that week to appeal
against another fine – this time for €15,000 for an allegedly racist
comment about the Harki community (the term used to refer to
Franco-Algerian Muslims resident in France). The court overturned the
finesaying that Mr. Freche was not guilty of the accusation of racism.
Representatives from the Harki community are said to be “disgusted” by
this turn of events and have also vowed to pursue the case at the next
judicial level.
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