I posted on Wednesday about a young Moroccan culture-enricher who allegedly raped and murdered a French student named Philippine and then fled to Switzerland. The miscreant was apprehended by the Swiss police, and is now in custody.
The murder of Philippine has caused widespread outrage in France. The following report describes an appearance on French TV by Jordan Bardella, the successor to Marine Le Pen as leader of Rassemblement National, where culture-enriching murder was the principal topic of discussion.
Many thanks to Gary Fouse for translating this article from Le Figaro:
The murder of Philippine: Jordan Bardella accuses the state of “having failed” and the justice system of being “irresponsible”
by John Timsit
September 26, 2024Caption: Jordan Bardella, guest on 20 Hours on Thursday evening. Screenshot/France 2
A guest on 20 Hours on France 2, the president of Rassemblement National [National Rally, RN] says that the deputies of his party will propose the reinstatement of “double punishment”.
The tragic death of the young Philippine continues to provoke turmoil. While the principal suspect, of Moroccan origin, was arrested in Switzerland, his profile (under an Order to Leave French Territory, convicted of rape, freed at the beginning of September…), the political class has immediately seized upon the case. The Left condemns, but is divided as to the diagnosis and the measures to take. The center bloc is quite discreet. As for the right and Rassemblement National, they are raising the tone and multiplying the propositions concerning migrant and judicial cases.
After the revelations that the foreign national, age 22, was free for three weeks in September despite the positive response of Morocco to the expulsion request from France, on Thursday evening on France 2’s 20 Hours, Jordan Bardella denounced an “irresponsible justice system” and the state that “failed”. While Justice Minister Didier Migaud had indicated, a few hours before the arrest of the individual by Swiss police, that “judicial laxness does not exist,” his nationalist adversary believes conversely that the indulgence of French authorities has “dramatic consequences for insecurity.”
“How many tragedies are needed?”
And the party boss took on a passionately martial tone: “How many tragedies until our political leaders become aware of what is happening today in our country?” He took the opportunity to recall that the RN deputies will propose “within a few days the reinstatement of double punishment” (prison and deportation) for foreigners committing a crime or misdemeanor. A way for the member of the European Parliament to respond to “the innumerable cases in which our migrant policy coupled with the weakness of criminal sentences leads to an explosive cocktail for our compatriots.”
Once Jordan Bardella’s main measures were laid out, the successor to Marine Le Pen and journalist Anne-Sophie Lapix engaged in a little back-and-forth. When the hostess estimated, using supporting sources, that the average cost of an expulsion was €13,800, Jordan Bardella responded: “And the cost of the life of Philippine, Madame?” “The cost of Philippine’s life is inestimable for everyone,” thundered Anne-Sophie Lapix, who asked the RN president for details on the financing of his migrant program.
The nationalist leader may well have argued that Philippine is “the only one who has been executed at this moment,” the host of “20 Hours” accused her guest of not answering. Then “bringing the question back to an extremely sensitive subject”: “Nobody wished for Phillipine’s death”. Not enough to perturb Jordan Bardella, according to whom the subject of financing is posed for only one reason: “We are so used to the state doing nothing, being weak.”