Nice: Councillor suspended for racist 'joke' email

Nice: Councillor suspended for racist 'joke' email


Garelli was suspended (FR) by his party.

Via the Local:
A politician with the centre-right UMP party near Nice found others didn't get the joke when he sent a 'humorous' email mocking the North African accent.

Gilbert Garelli, a local councillor in La Colle-sur-Loup in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, sent the email to a group of 20 friends.

The offending missive was sent on August 1st, the first day of Ramadan, and mis-spelled certain words to mimic the accent.

It ended with the line "I wish you a good Ramadan", with "I wish" written as "ji souhaite" rather than the correct "je souhaite."

He attached a copy of his Socialist party opponents' programme to the email, in Arabic, adding "remember to read it from right to left!"

(source)