In keeping with prosecutors, the lady stated in a police interview that she had identified one of many boys earlier than the assault. In police interviews, all three boys expressed remorse towards the lady with out addressing their alleged involvement, prosecutors stated. Authorities didn’t determine any of the minors.
Particulars of the case have despatched shock waves by way of France.
“Raped at 12 years outdated as a result of she is Jewish,” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote on X, denouncing “a monstrous and abject act.”
The chief rabbi of France, Haïm Korsia, stated he was “horrified” by stories of the assault. “Nobody might be excused from this unprecedented surge of antisemitism,” he stated in a social media publish.
Studies of antisemitic acts have skyrocketed in France, with French Jews expressing alarm for his or her security. The inside ministry recorded 1,676 antisemitic assaults final 12 months, a fourfold enhance over 2022. The vast majority of the recorded acts happened in November and December, after Hamas’s Oct. 7 assault on Israel and the beginning of Israel’s warfare in Gaza.
In April, French Inside Minister Gérald Darmanin ordered native officers to step up safety at synagogues and Jewish colleges.
Activists have referred to as for a mass demonstration in opposition to antisemitism in Paris on Friday.
On Wednesday, French media reported that greater than 1,000 individuals attended a rally at Paris’s Metropolis Corridor. Its organizers stated they gathered to cease the rise of anti-Jewish hatred and to supply solidarity to the 12-year-old sufferer. Addressing the gang, French Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti warned in opposition to minimizing cases of antisemitism: “After phrases, there are acts. And after fiery phrases, there are fires,” he stated.
Throughout the political aisle, Jordan Bardella, the 28-year-old far-right chief of the populist Nationwide Rally, stated it was important to fight the ambiance of antisemitism in France.
The French far proper has itself been traditionally linked to antisemitism. Nationwide Entrance social gathering founder Jean-Marie Le Pen was repeatedly fined for diminishing the Nazi fuel chambers as a mere “element” within the historical past of World Struggle II.
However his daughter, Marine Le Pen, has rebranded the social gathering, moderating its tone and increasing its attraction. In European Parliament elections this month, Nationwide Rally claimed victory over French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist coalition. The social gathering can be anticipated to carry out nicely within the upcoming snap legislative elections, doubtlessly getting an opportunity to manipulate for the primary time.
