Bonnet v. France, dec., No. 35364/19, ECtHR (Fifth Section), 25 January 2022

Offensive and racist cartoon against the Jewish community. Denial of the Holocaust. Lawful interference with freedom of expression.

Art. 10 ECHR

Public insults of a racial nature targeting the Jewish community and speeches calling into question or denying the existence of the Holocaust do not enjoy the protection of Art. 10 ECHR. Indeed, the message they convey does not contribute to any debate in the public interest.

(In the instant case, the applicant, the publication director of the website “Égalité et Réconciliation” (“Equality and Reconciliation”), was convicted of racial insult and denial of the Holocaust following the publication of a cartoon. He complained of a violation of his freedom of expression, specifically claiming that the domestic court wrongly concluded that the cartoon had been aimed directly at the Jewish community or insinuated the denial of the Holocaust. Taking into consideration the nature of the impugned remarks, the medium used to disseminate them and the context in which the publication took place, the Court found that the interference with the applicant’s freedom of expression was necessary in a democratic society and declared the application inadmissible as being manifestly ill-founded).