Outrage as antisemitism is not among the charges faced by suspected Paris swastika vandal

The Parisian prosecutor’s office has failed to include a hate charge in the upcoming trial of the suspect who spray-painted twenty large red swastikas across the Plate de la Concorde and Rue de Rivoli on 11th October.

The 31 year-old male, from the Republic of Georgia, was arrested near to the scene following the incident and is currently remanded in police custody until the trial commences.

The prosecutor’s office stated that the defendant faces charges of damage to property, however there was no legal basis for a crime aggravated by religious or racial hatred and prejudice. The vandalism was daubed on the columns and walls of the Parisian buildings with no cultural or historical Jewish associations.

France’s Jewish student union (UEFJ) reacted with outrage to the decision and expressed concerns that such impunity undermines any possible sanctions against future antisemitic acts. In a Twitter post on 14th October, the UEFJ said: “As is often the case, there were many words of indignation and no real acts of condemnation”, despite Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo pledging to combat rising antisemitism in the city.

This is not the first case in which French prosecutors or courts have refused to charge or find hate crime motivations, contrary to the expectations of the Jewish community.

French authorities last year reported a 27 percent increase in antisemitic acts across the country, including growing rates of hateful vandalism and threats of physical violence.

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