Urban Unrest

30 May 2006 | Politics | Ernesto Aguilar

One of France's most popular rappers will appear in court on Monday charged with offending public decency with a song in which he referred to France as a 'slut' and vowed to 'piss' on Napoleon and Charles de Gaulle. Monsieur R, whose real name is Richard Makela, could face three years in prison or a EUR 75,000 fine after an MP from the ruling UMP party launched legal action against him over his album Politikment Incorrekt.When Daniel Mach, MP for PyrÈnÈes-Orientales, heard the album last year, he proposed a law making it a criminal offence to insult the dignity of France and the French state. In November, when riots broke out in France's run-down suburbs, another UMP deputy, FranÁois Grosdidier, won the support of 152 MPs and 49 senators who demanded that parliament act against Makela's lyrics. But by then Mach had taken a personal action against Makela for making and disseminating 'violent and pornographic messages' to which minors could get access.

The case is the latest in a series of stand-offs between conservative MPs and rappers. In 2003, Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister and presidential hopeful, brought a criminal case against the rap band Sniper, saying their music was anti-semitic, racist and insulting. Makela, who was born in Belgium and came to France aged 14, said he did not target any particular group but rapped against 'the system'.

Source: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1785103,00.html - The Guardian

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