World Jewish Congress welcomes sentencing of far-right French writer over antisemitic hate speech

NEW YORK - The World Jewish Congress welcomes the decision of a French criminal court to sentence far-right Holocaust denier Alain Soral to one year in prison for public antisemitic statements.

“The Correctional Tribunal of Bobigny has taken a strong stance against hate speech this week, making it clear to would-be offenders that vile diatribe against Jews and other human beings will not be tolerated,” said WJC CEO and Executive Vice President Robert Singer.

“Alain Soral represents the lowest common denominator, exploiting his position of popularity for years to incite against others and gather support for a hateful political agenda,” Singer said. “He was sentenced this time for calling Jews manipulative, domineering and hateful, three words that can rightfully be used to describe Soral’s own tactics. We hope that this sentencing will serve as a lesson for anybody who believes that verbal incitement can go unpunished.”