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French police have launched a murder investigation after a far-right activist died in hospital after being seriously injured in an attack that has heightened political tensions in France.
Quentin Deranque, 23, a mathematics student, died at the weekend from a severe brain injury. Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran said Deranque was attacked by at least six masked men. He said police were working to identify the perpetrators and no arrests had been made so far.
The attack occurred on Thursday, on the outskirts of a protest against a university conference attended by Rima Hassan, an MEP from the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
The far-right anti-immigration collective Nemesis was protesting the conference. Nemesis said over the weekend that Deranque had been present to protect its members as part of security and that he had been attacked by anti-fascist activists.
The victim's family lawyer said in a statement to French media that the student appeared to have been ambushed by "organized and trained individuals, far more numerous and armed, some of them masked." In a statement to the newspaper Le Monde, the lawyer added that Deranque was not part of any organization's security structures, had no criminal record and was defending his political beliefs "in a non-violent manner."
His death has deepened political divisions in France ahead of local elections and a presidential race next year. The LFI party, described by Mélenchon as “radical left,” was officially labeled “far left” this month by the French Interior Ministry ahead of local elections in March. The LFI and Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure disputed the classification.
On Monday, government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon accused the LFI of “encouraging a climate of violence for years.” She told BFMTV that, “in light of the political climate and the violence, there is a moral responsibility on the part of the LFI” for Thursday’s attack.
A video broadcast by TF1, purporting to show the moments of the attack, shows a group of people hitting three others lying on the ground; two of them manage to get away, while one remains motionless. A witness told the French News Agency (AFP): “People were hitting each other with iron bars.”
Demonstrations called by the far right in memory of Deranque have taken place in the southern city of Montpellier and in Paris. In Paris, protesters unfurled a banner reading: “Anti-fascist murderers, justice for Quentin.”
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