France : Three far-right sympathizers tried and sentenced by the court of Angers

Three far-right sympathizers were tried on Wednesday, 29th of November, and sentenced to prison by the Criminal Court of Angers, a city in western France for vilence and racial assauls, reports Reuters.

The sentences were pronounced against Tanguy Martin, currently put into custody for committing acts of violence in Nantes, Francois –Mamès Cosseron de Villenoisy, a 19-year-old man from Saint-Herblain and Francois-Aubert Gannat detained for uttering racist insults.

The court decided to convict the first defendant for four months in prison, give the second a four-month suspended prison term and sentence the third to one month in prison with a € 2,600 fine to pay.

Francois-Aubert Gannat, a 20-year-old man from Niafles, north-western France, is the son of Pascal Gannat, former chief of staff of Jean-Marie Le Pen and former leader of the FN group at the Pays de la Loire regional council.

The «insults» he uttered on May 6, 2017 had occurred three days after he was convicted by the same criminal court in Angers for «beating a young North African» while leaving a pub.

On the other hand, at the hearing Tangay Martin’s Facebook profile was described as «provocative» as he chose the name of a former Nazi leader, Theodor Eicke, as his nickname. The former activist from the Union Defense Group, a French far-right student group, chose a picture of the «white pride» as his profile picture and declared that he had studied at «Hitler Youth».

Meanwhile, François-Mamès Cosseron de Villenoisy has posted a photo of him wearing a graphic t-shirt with The Reichsadler («Imperial Eagle») sign embroidered on it, symbolizing Nazism.