When imbecility and hatred rage together, we come to this kind of obscene talk. “Kylian Mbappé this dirty nigger deserves to take a hundred lashes and to be sold in Libya this nigger does not deserve the French Republic towards Cameroon or the cotton fields”. This Wednesday, the 17th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court will see the author of this racist tweet published last June answer for his actions.
France had just lost in the round of 16 of Euro 2021, Kylian Mbappé sealing the defeat of the Blues (3-3, 4-5 on pens) by missing his shot on goal, the only failure of the session. Comments of this kind, the associations SOS Racisme and Sportitude had then counted many and had reported them to justice. They often targeted the PSG star but also other players of color.
“Racist hatred must not go unpunished”
“Faced with the feeling of impunity that affects a large number of users on Twitter, we expect an exemplary sanction. Racist hatred, on the networks as elsewhere, must not go unpunished, ”said the two organizations, which filed civil suits at the hearing and called for greater moderation on the part of social networks.
Civil society figures, such as Harry Roselmack, Sonia Rolland and Hélène Sy, were also indignant. “Dear Kylian, dear Blues”, wrote the first on a black background. “To represent, to serve one’s country is also to represent ingrates and bastards. This is part of the nobility of the task”.
The account on which the text examined this Wednesday by the courts had been published was quickly blocked. And in the hours that followed, Internet user had let it be known that the individual behind these insults had stolen his profile photo and that he was in no way the author of these remarks. According to our information, it was the reports around this message that triggered the opening of the investigation, but the latter was not necessarily limited to the insults received by this single player.