A feminist teen was arrested in France on Tuesday after being reported to police by a Green Party mayor for demanding that foreign rapists be deported from the country.
Two teenage activists associated with the feminist identitarian Collectif Némésis group attended a carnival in the eastern French city of Besançon on Sunday and held up placards that read, “Free us from immigration” and “deport foreign rapists.”
The campaign group highlighted the fact that 46 women could have been spared from rape by illegal migrants if the authorities had enforced their orders to leave French territory last year (OQTFs), including one incident that occurred in Besançon last August.
The demonstration was denounced by the city’s mayor, Anne Vignot, who has previously pushed a pro-mass migration agenda and who announced she would be filing a police complaint against the activists for an alleged hate crime against migrants.
“During the carnival of Besançon, people held up two signs associating migrants and rapists. A banner with a similar message was hung on a facade on the main street. Starting tomorrow, I will file a complaint for inciting hatred towards the city,” Vignot posted on X on Sunday.
On Tuesday, Collectif Némésis confirmed that a 19-year-old activist associated with their campaign had been placed in police custody following the complaint and was under investigation for hate crimes.
A search of the premises belonging to the teen’s father was also conducted by the authorities.
The incident made national headlines after being highlighted by Jordan Bardella, the president of France’s National Rally, who wrote on social media: “In Emmanuel Macron’s France, a sign calling for the expulsion of foreign rapists is enough to end up in police custody. Common sense and freedom of expression have deserted our institutions.”
The campaign group issued a rallying cry to its supporters to show solidarity with the teen, sparking similar demonstrations across France from feminists concerned about the consequences of mass immigration on women’s safety.
Activists attended a conference of far-left French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon at the University of Nantes and held similar placards warning about the demise of French culture due to mass immigration.
“We are a hydra. Try to cut off our heads, we will grow two more,” the group posted on X on Tuesday.
In a press release on Wednesday, Collectif Némésis confirmed the teen had been released from police custody after 10 hours of interrogation; however, the group questioned the expedited arrest following the local mayor’s complaint and how political the French authorities had become.
“Thank you all for your mobilization, but this zealous demonstration of power, which reveals a worrying authoritarian drift, is far from over: Investigators are currently looking for the second activist who was present with her last Sunday at the Besançon carnival,” the campaign group wrote on social media.
“It is therefore likely that this activist will suffer exactly the same fate. The speed with which our activist was taken into custody after the mayor’s complaint raises questions about the independence of justice and its political neutrality,” it added.
The detained activist’s personal computer was also seized by the authorities following an order by the magistrate, a move questioned by the group.
“What justification is there for such procedures? Our activists are treated as potential terrorists when their only wrong was to demand the application of the law,” it wrote.
The detained teen issued a personal update following her release from police custody.
“Wow. I leave police custody, open the networks, and I see all these messages of support. I don’t know where to start! Thank you all for your support. I am extremely touched. What is happening is intolerable. Thank you for being by my side. I’ll be in touch very soon,” she wrote.
