After far right victory in Nice, a fascist commando attacked people leaving a protest rally with chairs; in Nîmes, a communist activist was badly injured in an organised attack
~ Contre Attaque ~
All of France was urged to pay tribute to a Lyon-based neo-Nazi who was killed after organising an ambush, but far-right attacks are never mentioned on the evening news. Yet they are infinitely more numerous. Two examples, against the backdrop of the election campaign, in Nîmes and Nice.
Monday, 23 March, day one after the National Rally’s victory in Nice. To denounce Eric Ciotti’s victory, the CGT entertainment union organised an anti-fascist rally in Place Saint-François. Everything was going well; more than 200 people were gathered, but participants noticed hooded individuals loitering around the square.
These were neo-Nazis who were waiting for the crowd to disperse before ambushing them. At the end of the gathering, two groups of activists leaving the area were attacked by about twenty far-right individuals. It was a veritable lynching, with blows to the head and ribs, and beatings on the ground. Activists were chased through the streets.
According to Nice Matin, some “managed to take refuge in a fast-food restaurant on Boulevard Jean Jaurès, but were reportedly caught by the attackers who continued to beat them with chairs.” A video confirms this chair attack. No arrests have been reported: these groups acted with complete impunity in the heart of the far-right city.
The CGT union in Nice believed that Ciotti’s victory constituted a “serious warning for civil liberties, social rights, and the future of the cultural sector.” Within 24 hours, events had proven them right.
Activists beaten in Nîmes
In Nîmes, a three-way race pitted a communist candidate against two candidates from the far right and extreme right. Ultimately, it was the communist Vincent Bouget who won. But disturbing information was revealed Monday morning: a few minutes before the end of the campaign two days earlier, on Friday, 20 March, several communist activists were beaten by supporters of the radical right-wing candidate Franck Proust. “The events were only revealed this Monday so as not to disrupt the election process,” explains L’Humanité.
It was 11 p.m. when the communist poster hangers crossed paths with right-wing activists who wanted to tear down the left-wing posters. They made a call, and quickly, two scooters and three cars arrived, carrying about ten people. A veritable commando unit, prepared for violence. One of the cars bore the logo of the town’s handball club. Was it on loan from the town hall?
The thugs grabbed a member of the French Communist Party (PCF), threw him onto the hood of a car, and beat him on the ground with kicks and punches. He suffered serious injuries: broken facial and nasal bones, and bruises on other parts of his body. A second man explained: “They kicked me while I was on the ground. I have broken ribs and a broken tooth, my inner ear is damaged, and I’m dizzy.”
A video taken by a motorist and viewed by L’Humanité confirms this account. After the beating, the commando tore down the PCF posters before fleeing.
The toll is heavy: doctors have issued two-week sick leave certificates for one victim and one-ten-day sick leave certificate for the other. Two other people were also jostled during the attack.
According to the local communist leader, his comrades “ran into the privileged youth campaigning for the right wing. It could have turned out much worse.” So it’s no longer just the neo-Nazi far right committing these acts of violence, but also the mainstream right wing, which is becoming increasingly radicalized and resorting to violence by carrying out serious attacks against the left.
Will the media hound the LR (Les Républicains) officials to demand they condemn this lynching?
Machine translation
