During the night from Wednesday to Thursday, dozens of billboards in the city of Avignon, in the south of France, were covered by posters showing President Emmanuel Macron as Adolf Hitler. An investigation has been opened.
On about thirty posters plastered in the city center of Avignon, the president of the Republic appears in a suit and tie, graying hair with, in addition, a small mustache like Hitler’s… On the latter, the numbers 49.3, a reference to the article of the Constitution used by the government to pass the pension reform in the National Assembly, are registered. The image is framed by the words “no thanks” and a hashtag: #agirousubir.
An investigation was opened for public insult to the president and incitement to rebellion. The authors of the wild placarding respectively incur a fine of up to 12,000 euros and 2 months in prison and a fine of 7,500 euros.
These posters are a reproduction of a mural that had been done by a graffiti artist named Lekto on the electrical transformer in a city parking lot last April. It had been erased at the request of the prefecture. At the bottom of the fresco, Lekto specified that it was a “satirical painting”. The controversial graffiti artist is to be tried in September for another fresco which represented Emmanuel Macron as a puppet manipulated by the economist Jacques Attali. He is being prosecuted for incitement to discrimination, violence and hatred through an anti-Semitic remark.
“Unacceptable and extremely serious”
The posters have, in any case, made the political class react. ” Such acts are unacceptable and extremely serious and dangerous for our democracy, for what they convey in amalgams and historical shortcuts “, reacted in a press release sent to AFP the mayor PS Cécile Helle. ” Our Republic has always been based on citizen respect for elected officials, from the local level to the highest office of President of the Republic. “, adds the chosen one.
The prefect of Vaucluse Violaine Demaret for her part condemned “ firmly the offensive nature of these posters in a separate statement. ” If freedom of expression must be respected, it must not lead to confusion with the darkest hours of our history. “, she added.
(With AFP)