Michel Houellebecq has been charged in France over statements deemed discriminatory toward Muslims

French writer Michel Houellebecq was charged on Tuesday by an investigating judge at the Nanterre Judicial Court with aiding and abetting incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence against a group of people on the grounds of origin, ethnicity, nationality, race or religion.

The case concerns statements made in an interview with philosopher Michel Onfray and published in Front Populaire magazine in November 2022. Houellebecq spoke at the time about Muslims and the possibility of acts of violence in France, stating, among other things, that some of them should “leave” and describing the “Great Replacement” as a fact rather than a theory.

The proceedings were initiated following complaints filed by the Union of Mosques of France and the Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples. Chems-Eddine Hafiz, rector of the Grand Mosque of Paris, later withdrew the legal action after meeting with the writer in January 2023.

Houellebecq’s lawyers argue that the statements contain no incitement to violence and fall within the bounds of freedom of expression. The writer later acknowledged that some of his wording had been “clumsy” or misinterpreted. He faces up to one year in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros.