Thirteen people linked to a far-right group appeared in a Paris court on Wednesday on charges of publicly inciting racial hatred against French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, who faced harassment over her performance at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
The defendants, who are linked to the extreme-right group Les Natifs ("the Natives"), are on trial for unveiling a banner in March 2024 that read: "No way Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market" – a reference to Mali's capital, where the singer was born – in response to rumours the singer would perform at the Olympic Games opening ceremony that summer.
Nakamura's performance at the ceremony on the Seine that July, accompanied by the musicians of the Republican Guard, sparked a firestorm amongst far-right politicians and commentators that President Emmanuel Macron described as "racist" and "shocking".
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The 13 defendants, aged between 20 and 31, face charges of publicly inciting hatred or violence, or complicity in such incitement, on the grounds of ethnicity, nationality, race or religion.
Les Natifs subscribe to the far-right, white nationalist "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, according to which white Europeans are being deliberately supplanted by non-white immigrants.
Nakamura responded to the group's stunt on X (formerly Twitter), writing: "You can be racist, but you're not deaf... and that's what really bothers you! I'm suddenly the number one topic of debate – but what do I really owe you? Nothing."
Both the singer and anti-discrimination NGOs filed complaints with the Paris prosecutor's office over the incident, which was investigated by France's anti-hate crime division.
Six billion streams
The 30-year-old singer was born Aya Danioko in Mali, and arrived in France as a baby. She grew up on a housing estate in Seine-Saint-Denis, north-east of Paris, with her four siblings and her mother – who was a griotte, a traditional Malian poet and singer.
She applied for French nationality as an adult and was granted it in May 2021
Nakamura is the most listened-to Francophone artist in the world, with more than 6 billion streams of her songs and more than 9 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
But when rumours began circulating in March 2024 that she would perform at the Olympics opening ceremony, far-right politicians and groups vehemently criticised the decision.
An appearance by Nakamura, who sings in a mix of French and Arabic and Malian slang, would "humiliate" the country, said National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who took aim at what she called the singer's "vulgarity" and "the fact that she doesn't sing in French".
Nakamura's performance at the ceremony was widely viewed as a riposte to such criticism, with her singing a medley of her hits in front of the Académie Française – the institution responsible for the protection of the French language.
It became one of the most-watched moments of the opening ceremony.
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Shock tactics
The hanging of the banner by Les Natifs was one of a series of provocative stunts by the group, which it shares with thousands of followers on social media.
In March, the group covered portraits of veiled women on display in a church in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis with black sheets. One of the 13 defendants set to stand trial on Wednesday, Stanislas T, 24, will also face charges over that incident on Thursday.
In February, they plastered an Air Algeria office in Paris with posters showing pictures of a suitcase with the words "Re-migrate 'light' from France to Algeria, for a one-way ticket with no return".
The goal for these type of groups is to "provoke massive reactions and shock public opinion so we have no choice but to talk about them," said Marion Jacquet-Vaillant, an expert on far-right movements in France.
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In April, one of Les Natifs' roughly 50 members described the group's identity as "civilisational, European; national, French; and local, Parisian".
The so-called fight against the "great replacement" is the "mother of all battles" said Gabriel, 25, who works in finance.
Nakamura's complaint is not the only one stemming from last summer's opening ceremony to head to trial.
A French court in May found seven people guilty of cyberbullying Thomas Jolly, the artistic director for the opening ceremony, who is openly gay – including sending a death threat.
And five people are due to stand trial in September over similar complaints from Barbara Butch, a French DJ and lesbian activist who starred in a controversial scene during the event, which right-wing critics interpreted as a mockery of the Last Supper.
Her lawyer said she had been "threatened with death, torture and rape".
(with AFP)
