Thaïs d’Escufon, French right-wing activist and former spokesperson for the anti-immigration Génération Identitaire, has faced the risk of being sent to prison for up to a year and fined 45,000 euros after statements about immigration and women’s safety. On Thursday, the verdict was delivered.

Thaïs d’Escufon began her political activism in the French nationalist movement Action Française before joining the anti-immigration organization Génération Identitaire. In 2018, she participated in a widely noted protest against the aid organization SOS Méditerranée, which assists migrants in the Mediterranean.

After 2020, she became spokesperson for Génération Identitaire and has since represented the organization in TV debates and media appearances.

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When d’Escufon participated on French TV to talk about a sexual assault and deprivation of liberty she suffered at the hands of a Tunisian migrant, she said that “the main danger for women is immigrant men, Africans, blacks and Arabs”.

Clip from the TV broadcast which has now led to charges.

Following the statement, the French authority DILCRAH (The Interministerial Delegation Against Racism, Antisemitism and Anti-LGBT Hate) filed a complaint of suspected incitement to racial hatred, a complaint that led to prosecution.

“European and American patriots!”

On social media, d’Escufon describes the process as an attack on freedom of expression. She further claims she was prosecuted for expressing a view on the link between immigration and crime which, according to her, is supported by reality.

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In a widely shared post on platform X, she writes, among other things, that the Tunisian migrant who attacked her is still at large.

In a video published together with the text, she ends by saying, “We are no longer afraid, we are not alone, the French people do not give up and stand strong!”

The verdict against Thaïs d’Escufon was delivered on Thursday. Although she risked prison time, the penalty stayed at a fine.

She was sentenced to pay 1,000 euros – equivalent to nearly 11,000 Swedish kronor – for what the court judged as “gross public insult”.

“It’s outrageous that a migrant can cross the border”

This is not the first time she has faced trial for statements she has made. In 2021, she was sentenced by a court in Saint-Gaudens, France, to two months’ suspended imprisonment and a 3,000-euro fine after publishing a YouTube video in connection with an anti-migration action at the border between France and Spain.

The prosecutor then argued that she had “stigmatized migrants” by describing illegal migration as a threat. What the prosecutor considered stigmatizing was her claim that it is “outrageous that a migrant can cross the border”.

On social media, various claims circulate about whether the latest prosecution is an appeal of a previous verdict or not. According to the news account Visegrád 24, she had previously been sentenced to six months’ suspended imprisonment and a 3,000-euro fine – and that this is now a case on appeal to be decided.

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