French prosecutor overrules jail sentence of notorious Holocaust denier Alain Soral

The World Jewish Congress stands with CRIF, the Representative Council of Jews in France, in decrying the decision of Paris public prosecutor’s office to overturn the one-year jail sentence of notorious Holocaust denier and antisemite Alain Soral, which had been handed down in January by the Correctional Tribunal of Bobigny.

“The correctional court made clear that would-be offenders that vile diatribe against Jews and other human beings will not be tolerated,” WJC CEO and Executive Vice President Robert Singer said immediately following the sentencing. “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. 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.”

The decision to overturn the sentence was met with anger by Jewish groups and leaders, including CRIF President Francis Kalifat, who said in a statement that such a move effectively enables antisemites to perpetuate their hatred undeterred.

“In the fight against anti-Semitism, we have only education and the law. How can we continue to fight it effectively when the guardians of the law are the ones who render it inoperative, as in this case against Alain Soral?” Kalifat said.

Jews in France have seen a significant increase in antisemitic incidents in recent years: