Vice World News: He Wanted to be a Judge. He’s In Court Over Violent Anti-Asian Tweets
Stock photo @ninjason
March 25, 2021
PARIS – Five young men, one of whom is studying law with the hopes of becoming a police commissioner or a judge, have made their first court appearance over tweets that prosecutors say incited violence against Asians in France, in what anti-racism activists are calling a precedent-setting case.
For the Association of Young Chinese in France, SOS Racisme, and four other anti-racism groups who lodged the complaint, the case is meant to send a message that people can no longer hide behind anonymous social media accounts to post racist, hate-filled messages.
The accused, none of whom deny writing the tweets in question, are charged with “inciting public provocation to carry out a physical attack of a racist nature” and spreading “public insults towards a group of people because of their origin.”
“We want the authors of these kinds of tweets to know that they can be brought to justice and convicted, that these kinds of messages are not harmless and that they understand this reality,” lawyer Soc Lam told reporters at the Paris courthouse.
The tweets posted by the young men, aged between 19-25, called for violent attacks against Chinese people in France, following a national COVID lockdown announced by President Emmanuel Macron last October.
More at https://www.vice.com/en/article/dy8ne7/anti-asian-sentiment-france-twitter-court-case
