New Radio defended that Saturday 15 November “freedom of expression” and warned that he “will not accept any threats” following Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez’s complaint against one of his comedians, Pierre-Emmanuel Barré, who compared the police to the ISIS organization.
“Preserving the freedom of those who make people laugh means protecting the health of our democracy. Radio Nova above all else will not accept any threats against comedians and their collaborators”stated music radio in a press release sent toAgence France-Presse (AFP).
At the show “The latter” broadcast on Sunday New Radio later on Monday on the internet, Pierre-Emmanuel Barré described the police and gendarmerie as“a structurally brutal, racist and disempowering institution”.
The comedian added: “Rape, mutilation, murder, and people filming themselves doing all this while having fun, in fact the police and the gendarmerie, it is Daesh that provides job security”.
The debate about satire
Laurent Nuñez has sent a “complaint letter” to the Paris prosecutor’s office to complain “this unspeakable statement” Monday night, right after the video of this event was broadcast on the internet, his group clarified last FridayAFP.
On Friday, police union Un1té condemned the move “dirty words” from comedians “held as France honors police officers who saved lives on November 13 2015”.
“This column has absolutely nothing to do with the attacks of November 13, 2015”determined Radio Nova. “Freedom of expression (…) means accepting satire, caricature and criticism. This protects fundamental rights, because a free society has nothing to fear from laughing”added radio.
The show “The latter” has been presented since September 2024 by Guillaume Meurice who has been fired France Inter in June of the same year for serious misconduct after comparing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a “a kind of Nazi but without the foreskin”.
New Radio is part of the Combat group, founded by left-wing investment banker Matthieu Pigasse, which also includes the magazine “The Unbreakable” and the festival “Stones on the Seine”.
