The prefect of Rhône, Fabienne Buccio, filed an article 40 with the public prosecutor of Lyon for inciting hatred after spotting online videos of supporters, on the sidelines of the festivities following Algeria’s victory over the Congo on Tuesday evening.
It targets comments hostile to “Moroccans” and “Jews” made by Algerian supporters. The prefect of Rhône, Fabienne Buccio, issued a report to the public prosecutor of Lyon on the basis of article 40 of the code of criminal procedure for incitement to hatred, according to information from Europe 1 confirmed in Figaro. She points to chants sung by some of the supporters gathered in the Guillotière district on Tuesday evening to celebrate Algeria’s victory over Congo in the round of 16 of the African Cup of Nations (CAN).
Several videos published on different social networks show a group of supporters decked out in Algerian flags singing these songs in Arabic. The content of the remarks was confirmed by state services, indicates a prefectural source at Figaro. The report therefore aims at incitement to hatred because of real or supposed belonging to an ethnic group, a nation, an alleged race or a religion.
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A previous report last week
A report had already been made by the prefect during a previous Algerian victory at the CAN against Burkina Faso (1-0), during the second match of the group phase, sealing the qualification of the Fennecs. Among the many supporters gathered at the Guillotière on Sunday, December 28, the Franco-Algerian influencer Sofia Benlemmane, sentenced in April in Lyon to nine months in prison after threatening to kill opponents of the Algerian regime, sang a song hostile to France. “You colonized us, now you are in trouble (…) The country is ours, we do what we want”the fifty-year-old sang in a video published on several social networks.
On Tuesday, Algerian supporters gathered again at Place Gabriel Péri to celebrate their team’s victory in an initially good-natured atmosphere. The police nevertheless ended up intervening to disperse the gathering of 500 people which blocked car traffic and tram traffic.
