The China Mail - Thirteen on trial in France over 'racist' stunt targeting singer Aya Nakamura

The defendants, linked to extreme-right group Les Natifs (the Natives), are on trial for unveiling a banner in March 2024 that read: "No way, Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market" -- a reference to Mali's capital, where the singer was born.

Nakamura's performance sparked a political firestorm among far-right politicians and conservatives in a reaction French President Emmanuel Macron at the time described as "racist" and "shocking".

The 13 defendants, who are aged between 20 and 31, now face charges of publicly inciting hatred or violence -- or complicity in such incitement -- on the grounds of ethnicity, nationality, race, or religion.

Only three appeared in court, while the remaining 10 were represented by their lawyers.

Les Natifs espouses the far-right, white nationalist so-called "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, according to which white Europeans are being deliberately supplanted by non-white immigrants.

Nakamura responded to the group's stunt on social media at the time, writing: "You can be racist, but you're not deaf... and that's what really bothers you! I'm suddenly the number one topic of debate -- but what do I really owe you? Nothing."

Nakamura was neither present at Wednesday's hearing nor represented by a lawyer.

- 'Shock public opinion' -

The 30-year-old is the world's most listened to Francophone singer, and her July 2024 performance on one of Paris's fabled bridges, the Pont des Arts, was among the most-watched moments of the opening ceremony.

But when rumours began circulating in March that the Mali-born and Paris-raised superstar was going to perform, far-right politicians and groups vehemently criticised the decision.

An appearance by Nakamura, who mixes French with Arabic and Malian slang, would "humiliate" the country, far-right leader Marine Le Pen suggested, taking aim at her supposed "vulgarity" and "the fact that she doesn't sing in French".

Far-right media amplified Les Natifs' banner which they unfurled along the capital's River Seine, another in a series of provocative stunts by the group which it shares with thousands of followers on social media.

In March, the group covered portraits of veiled women on display in a church in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis with black sheets.

One of the thirteen defendants set to stand trial on Wednesday, Stanislas T., 24, will also face charges in that case on Thursday.

And in February, they plastered an Air Algeria office in Paris with posters reading "Re-migrate 'light' from France to Algeria, for a one-way ticket with no return" written over a single suitcase.

The goal for groups like Les Natifs is to "provoke massive reactions and shock public opinion so we have no choice but to talk about them", said Marion Jacquet-Vaillant, an expert on far-right movements in France.

Among the defendants are Les Natifs' leader Edouard M., a 28-year-old finance professional, and the group's spokesman, Antoine G., a 27-year-old lawyer. Both were absent from the hearing.

Capucine C., 22, who until March 2025 was a "parliamentary assistant" to three far-right National Rally MPs, was in the courtroom on Wednesday.

In April, one of Les Natifs' roughly 50 members described the group's identity as "civilisational, European; national, French; and local, Parisian".

The so-called fight against the "great replacement" is the "mother of all battles", said Gabriel, 25, who works in finance.

In 2024, the UN human rights chief warned that the conspiracy theory is "delusional and deeply racist," and a direct driver of violence.

Nakamura's complaint is not the only one stemming from the opening ceremony to head to trial.

A French court in May found seven people guilty of bullying Thomas Jolly, the artistic director for the opening ceremony who is openly gay.

And five people are to stand trial in September over similar complaints from Barbara Butch, a French DJ and lesbian activist who starred in a controversial scene during the event.

I.Ko--ThChM