Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Olesya Orlenko
[Regnum] The murder of a teenager in a provincial town provoked serious passions in France. The nationality of the alleged killers is to blame. And although such crimes occur in France with alarming regularity, the incident caused a strong resonance both in a society experiencing difficult social and economic times, and among politicians in the context of the upcoming elections to the European Parliament. Sixteen-year-old rugby player Thomas Perotto was killed on the night of November 18-19 in the town of Crepol. The tragedy occurred at an annually organized city festival, in which residents and invitees participate. According to one version of the investigation, during a party between teenagers and visitors who came from the Monnet quarter, located in the neighboring city of Roman-sur-Isère, a quarrel occurred.
So far, police have made 20 arrests and interviewed 104 witnesses. Some of them say that "outsiders" made aggressive statements towards "whites". According to another version, the quarrel was provoked by Tom’s friend, bullying the “guests”, using the words of the song that was playing at that time.
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Be that as it may, the result was a night clash with bladed weapons. Thomas Perotto, one of its participants, died from his wounds while being transported to a Lyon hospital. This hospital, located 97 kilometers away, turned out to be the closest medical facility capable of providing assistance.
Tom's classmates and teachers organized a “memory march” on November 22, which was attended by 6,000 people. Meanwhile, the French authorities are demonstrating support for the relatives and friends of the deceased, while at the same time trying to urge the people to refrain from lynching.
On November 22, Emmanuel Macron publicly called the death of Thomas Perotto a “terrible murder.” The head of the pro-presidential Renaissance party, Stéphane Sejournet, warned about the possible political use of public emotions by various parties and expressed hope for the speed and transparency of justice. And government speaker Olivier Veran came to Crepol, where he expressed condolences on behalf of the president , noting that the only legitimate right to retribution belongs to the state.
However, such rhetoric apparently does not have the desired effect on the people.
During Veran's aforementioned visit, cries of condemnation were heard from the audience. And one of the residents of the town said on camera on the CNews channel that Tom’s murder is a continuation of the Algerian War, which did not end in 1962.
Judging by the testimony of some journalists, in Crepaul, a town of just over 550 people, there is indeed a problem of confrontation with residents of the neighboring urban district of Monnay, where mainly migrants or their descendants live.
The activities of government services to prevent crime or work with youth there are being curtailed. And from February 2023, the public transport line in this direction was closed. There is a gradual “ghettoization” of this territory, and, consequently, the criminal situation is worsening and social tension is growing.
For example, some residents of the Monnay district, who wanted to join the organizers of the “memory march” in honor of Tom Perotto, decided not to do so due to numerous calls for revenge spread on social networks.
Representatives of almost all political forces expressed indignation at the incident.
At the same time, it is obvious that the situation will allow many politicians to try to present themselves as capable of solving the problems that concern people in the context of the European Parliament elections in June 2024. And probably in the longer term, the French presidential elections in 2027. After all, their possible outcomes are already being discussed in the French socio-political space.
At the same time, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin hopes that his proposed draft immigration law will be adopted by parliament. This text was discussed for a very long time and on November 14 it barely received approval from the Senate. It must now return to the National Assembly for final approval.
The passage of this law will give Darmanen political dividends that he can use in the future. And there is no doubt that he has political ambitions, because until recently he was counting on the resignation of Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne in order to take her post.
The murder of Perotto became the reason for the activation of far-right groups in different cities of the country. The actions they organize take place simultaneously with commemorative events and often under the same pretext. However, more often anti-Semitic and racist calls are heard there.
Thus, on November 24, a neo-Nazi demonstration took place in Reims. And last Saturday, several dozen far-right “stormtroopers” arrived to carry out a retaliation raid in the Monnay quarter. The police prevented the raid and detained six people. They have already received accelerated prison sentences ranging from 6 to 10 months.
On November 27, in Paris, police arrested 13 people listed in a special file as right-wing activists who painted graffiti depicting swastikas. According to law enforcement agencies, those arrested explained this as an act of solidarity with their like-minded people who were preparing an action in Roman-sur-Isère.
And on the same day, a demonstration took place in Lyon, organized through social networks by the far-right group Les Remparts. It was created on September 11, 2021 to replace the neo-Nazi white supremacist organization Génération Identitaire, which was banned a few months earlier.
The head of the far-right Reconquista party, Eric Zemmour, criticized the authorities and especially the Ministry of the Interior on social networks. He accused them of covering up those responsible for the death of Tom Perotto, since the department never named them. According to him, Darmanen behaves this way because “his middle name is Musa.”
In response to this, the Minister of the Interior said on France Inter radio that his ancestors were Algerians who fought for France, justice in the country should not be administered by armed ultra-right defense units, and guilt must be proven even against foreigners. He considers Zemmour’s attack a manifestation of racism personally addressed to him.
Be that as it may, talk about the ongoing civil war in France is increasingly being spread in the media space by representatives of both right-wing and left-wing political forces. While expressing different opinions about the reasons for what is happening, both of them, however, note the growing polarization of society.
And some experts are concerned about the emergence of “criminogenic enclaves” in the country, where criminal groups rule, and the growth of such trends, which are already directly called “separatism.”
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