The French parliament has imposed the toughest of possible sanctions on a right-wing MP after a racist heckling. Grégoire de Fournas of the Rassemblement National (RN) is not allowed to enter the parliament in Paris for 15 days and his salary will be cut by half for two months, the parliament decided on Friday afternoon.
Apart from the RN MEPs, all the parliamentarians present from the other parliamentary groups voted in favor of the sanction proposed by the Parliament’s Council of Elders.
On Thursday, while black MP Carlos Martens Bilongo was speaking at the lectern about a ship with refugees that was blocked in the Mediterranean, De Fournas called out: “Return to Africa.”
In the spoken French language, it was impossible to tell whether he meant the member of parliament from the Left Party or the people on the ship with his heckling. Martens Bilongo had immediately replied: “Not at all.” There was a great uproar in Parliament and many MPs shouted “out”, “out”. The meeting was adjourned.
After the meeting ended, Bilongo spoke of a shame. “Today I was reduced to the color of my skin. I was born in France, I’m a French MP.” The heckling reveals the true face of the Rassemblement National. The right-wing deputy spoke of a misunderstanding. With his heckling, he referred to the refugees on the boat and not to his fellow parliamentarians. There was no apology from him. Politicians from the other parties condemned the incident in the strongest possible terms.
