Seven men were charged on Friday over the killing of far-right activist Quentin Deranque in Lyon, as authorities confirmed a memorial march will go ahead on Saturday under heavy police presence. France's far-right National Rally has told its elected officials not to attend.
Six men suspected of beating Deranque, 23, to death were charged with deliberate homicide and were in custody.
A seventh man, an assistant to the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) lawmaker Raphaël Arnault, was charged with complicity and also detained.
Deranque died on 14 February from a severe brain injury two days after being attacked by at least six people near the site of a conference held at Sciences Po Lyon by LFI MEP Rima Hassan.
He was at the venue to provide security for activists from the Némésis identity collective, who were demonstrating against Hassan's visit. Némésis blamed the killing on the La Jeune Garde Antifasciste (Anti-Fascist Young Guard), a group co-founded by Arnault in Lyon in 2018 and dissolved by authorities in June.
The group denied any connection to what it called the “tragic events”.
Security concerns
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez confirmed the march, which is expected to attract around 3,000 people, would be allowed to proceed. Local authorities had examined whether to ban the march because of fears of violence before deciding to let it go ahead.
"The forces of law and order will be on the periphery of this procession to avoid any disturbance to public order," he told French broadcaster RTL.
"There will be an extremely large police presence. It will be made up of local staff and mobile forces. I have heard Quentin's parents appeal for calm.
"Members of the ultra-left are calling to come and disrupt this demonstration. Obviously, we will prevent them."
Nuñez sanctioned the march despite the misgivings of local police chiefs, Lyon’s mayor Grégory Doucet and several left-wing MPs.
Parliament backlash
Deranque's death dominated questions to the government on Tuesday in the National Assembly, France’s lower house, where lawmakers observed a minute of silence for him.
“No one should die at 23. No one should die for their ideas,” assembly president Yaël Braun-Pivet said. “In all our names, I extend our thoughts to his family and loved ones.”
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu criticised LFI parliamentary leader Mathilde Panot, saying: "It is time for you to clean up your statements, your ideas, and above all your ranks.”
Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin blamed the killing on what he called the "ultra-left".
Government spokesperson Maud Bregeon urged LFI to suspend Arnault from its parliamentary group “at least temporarily”, saying he had links to the Anti-Fascist Young Guard.
Killing of far-right activist triggers turmoil across French political spectrum
'Wind turning' on hard left
RFI political correspondent Raphaël Delvolve said criticism directed at LFI echoed language once used against the far right.
“I think the wind is turning,” Hanane Mansouri, an ally of the National Rally, said.
“Everyone is starting to see the anti-democratic face of France Unbowed and the methods it uses by normalising violence," she added.
Her party colleague Philippe Ballard said the far-right party had shown it could act differently. “We have always shown that we work seriously and that we are not driven by emotion or violence," he said.
LFI lawmaker Alma Dufour rejected the accusations against her party. “There will never be any tolerance in our movement for violent methods like this," she said.
