(AP) - A French court has acquitted a former Foreign Legion commander who took part in an outlawed anti-migrant protest in February in Calais, a northern port city hosting a sprawling migrant camp.
A judge in nearby Boulogne-sur-Mer ruled Thursday that four-star general Christian Piquemal was actually leaving the protest after the police warnings and disband orders when he was arrested on Feb 6.
With some 150 other people, the 75-year-old former head of the prestigious French Foreign Legion army corps defied a ban on a demonstration to protest against "the insecurity generated by the presence of many migrants" in Calais and to call for "saving our country, our culture, our future".
The protest, organized by the anti-Islam movement PEGIDA, took place a few weeks before French authorities ordered a mass eviction in part of the slum camp where thousands of migrants have gathered to try to sneak across the English Channel to Britain.
Subscribe to Closing Arguments
Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.
Additional Reads
-
EU gains trillions in revenue — and debt April 22, 2024 -
Alaska, Hawaiian Airlines April 17, 2024
-
-
Contributor-Test-Post-2024-04-12 April 12, 2024