𝐅𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐂𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐀 𝐌𝐈𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐔𝐋𝐓 𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐕𝐈𝐕𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐀𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒 — 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐈𝐍
Today a French court delivered its ruling in the case of Thaïs d’Escufon — a young woman who was sexually assaulted by Tunisian migrants in 2022, then 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 for naming her attackers on live television.
The charge: “incitement to racial hatred.” The alleged crime: appearing on BFM TV in 2023 and stating that the main danger to French women comes from Black and Arab immigrant men. France’s DILCRAH — the government’s Interministerial Delegation to Fight Against Racism — filed the complaint after she spoke during a panel discussion about a migrant assault case. A state anti-hatred body mobilized to silence a crime victim.
D’Escufon addressed her American and European supporters in a video recorded after the ruling:
“𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘳𝘢𝘣 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘮 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘛𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘯 2022. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘏𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦.”
Today’s fine: €1,000. It was not her first conviction. She had previously received a six-month suspended sentence and a €3,000 fine for denouncing 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 across the Mediterranean. This time, prosecutors sought up to one year in prison — a sentence that would have imprisoned a sexual assault survivor for describing her attackers’ ethnicity on television. The prison sentence was beaten back, but the conviction stands.
The ruling sends an unmistakable signal: in today’s France, naming the 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫𝐬 in the wrong way carries a criminal record. D’Escufon has now been convicted twice for speech acts relating to migrant crime. Both convictions came after she was herself a victim. The French government has not yet explained how that squares.
𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 — 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡