An investigation was opened in Paris after the racist remarks of a Paraguayan senator against Kylian Mbappé for public insult and public provocation to hatred or violence, the prosecution said on Tuesday.
• Also read: “Asshole” who “sucked coconuts”: wave of indignation after the racist remarks of a senator against Mbappé
• Also read: Paraguay: the government denounces racist remarks against Mbappé by an opposition senator
Following a complaint from the French Football Federation (FFF) received by the national center for the fight against online hatred on Tuesday, “the Paris prosecutor’s office immediately opened an investigation”, the public prosecutor told AFP, confirming information from RMC and RTL.
After Paraguay’s defeat against France on Saturday in the round of 16 of the World Cup, Senator Celeste Amarilla violently attacked the Blues superstar.
“This idiot hasn’t even learned to write.” Instead of sucking breast milk, he suckled coconuts, and the most educated beings he had ever heard of were chimpanzees,” the opposition MP in the Paraguayan Senate wrote on X, provoking the anger of the French number 10 and a global outcry.
The grounds for public insult and public provocation to hatred or violence are aggravated “because of the origin, ethnicity, nation, race or religion, real or supposed, of the victim”, underlined the Paris prosecutor’s office.
These offenses carry a penalty of one year’s imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros, the same source added.
On the occasion of the World Cup, “the central office for combating online hatred has set up monitoring of racist comments likely to be published online”, added the public prosecutor, “in order to be able to open investigations as quickly as possible if necessary”.
