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France: FN members murder black youth

01 March 1995

A 17-year old migrant from the Comoros Islands was shot dead by members of the fascist Front National (FN) in Marseille on February 21. Ibrahim Ali came across the fascists, who were fly-posting, and attempted to avoid them when he was shot twice in the back. The leader of the FN, Jean Marie Le Pen, defended the shooting claiming that his supporters were acting in "legitimate self-defence"; nonetheless at the beginning of March he expelled the killers from the party. Le Pen is standing in the French Presidential election on April 23 and has claimed that the murder was part of a conspiracy to discredit him. Within a couple of days of the murder he appeared on one of the most important talk shows on French television - "7 Sur 7" on TF1 - and was treated as a respectable politician. The killing has started a row over whether FN members have been instructed by their leaders to arm themselves when fly-posting. Le Pen has denied this, but his protestations have been treated with scepticism bearing in mind the FNs violent history. The family of Ibrahim Ali have asked their lawyers to press for the prosecution of the FN leadership for complicity in his death. Le Monde 24 & 28.2.95; Guardian 28.2.95; International Herald Tribune 1.3.95; Politis 2.3.95.