Activist fined for defacing Colbert statue in Paris

Описание: (28 Jun 2021) A French activist for Black rights was convicted of defacing a statue of a historical figure from France's colonial, slave-trading past, a protest which he deemed a political act to denounce deep-seated racism.
The activist has been sentenced to pay a fine of 500 euros (597 US dollars) and damages to the French Parliament of 1,040 euros (1,241 US dollars).
Lollia said he felt "deeply insulted" and his attorney added theyt will appeal the decision.
"The court showed which side it was on - the side of state Negrophobia and the side of (Jean-Baptiste) Colbert's Black Code, and not on the side of the human beings who were deported from the African continent to be enslaved by the French state because we are Black," Lollia told reporters outside the court.
Guy Florentin, Lollia's lawyer, said the decision was "proof that the French justice apparatus is an accomplice with the crime against humanity, against Black people."
Franco Lollia said that rather than vandalize the statue in June 2020, he had improved it by spraying "state Negrophobia" in red paint on its pedestal.
The statue outside parliament honours Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a 17th-century royal minister who helped author rules governing slaves in France's overseas colonies.
Among other cruelties, Colbert's notorious "Black Code" allowed for slaves to be branded, have their ears cut off and be executed for escape attempts.
Lollia's defense team put France on trial, detailing and denouncing centuries of colonial atrocities.
They argued that in the wake of the worldwide wave of fury galvanized by the killing a month earlier of George Floyd, Lollia shone a necessary light on slavery and Colbert's role.

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