Six associations denounced the far-right presidential candidate Éric Zemmour for denying the existence of crimes against humanity, in particular the deportation of homosexuals during World War II, they announced to AFP on Wednesday.
These anti-homophobia associations — Inter LGBT, Stop Homophobie, SOS Homophobie, Mousse, Adheos and Quazar — base their action on a phrase from the debater's latest book, in which he states: “The deportation in France of homosexuals because of their 'sexual orientation', as they say now, is a 'legend'”.
Zemmour explains in that passage a disagreement with Jean-François Copé, former leader of the conservative party Union for a Popular Movement (now The Republicans).
Copé had expelled a parliamentarian “because of the controversy he had provoked when he claimed that the deportation of homosexuals from France was a 'legend',” explains Zemmour, for whom the legislator “is right”.
In their complaint, the associations state instead that “the deportation of homosexuals during World War II is an established historical reality”, which several French leaders acknowledged as former President Jacques Chirac in 2005.
Based on historical studies, these groups claim that “in France, at least 500 men accused of homosexuality were arrested. Among them, at least 200 were deported during the German occupation.”
The associations accuse Zemmour of “falsifying history to justify his homophobic positions” and claim that the complaint is the first against someone for “denying the reality of the deportation of homosexuals during World War II.”
“I have no knowledge of the complaint. I will react when I know its content,” his lawyer, Olivier Pardo, told AFP.
Zemmour was already tried and acquitted in the first instance for denying the existence of crimes against humanity, when he claimed that the French collaborationist marshal Philippe Pétain had “saved” the French Jews.
The appeal trial took place in January and the verdict is expected after the presidential election on April 10 and 12 next.
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