The day after a similar decision taken by the courts in Lille, the administrative court of Lyon validated in summary proceedings, Friday February 16, the ban by the Rhône prefecture of a concert by the controversial rapper Freeze Corleone, which was to be held Saturday evening in Lyon. “The serious risk that comments may be made that could seriously undermine respect for values and principles, particularly the dignity of the human person (…)consists “estimated the administrative court in its judgment, of which Agence France-Presse obtained a copy.
The concert “is part of a tense context, particularly with regard to the Jewish community in France, the reality of which the Rhône prefect also demonstrates on a local level”, added the court. Denouncing a decision “surprising”one of the rapper’s lawyers, Me Adrien Chartron immediately announced his intention to contact the Council of State so that the show could take place.
Thursday, the administrative court of Lille also validated the ban by the prefecture of the rapper’s concert which was to be held that same evening at the zenith of the city, evoking the “calls for violence” in several songs. He judged “the risk of disturbances to public order (…) sufficiently established”noting that “several songs that Freeze Corleone was to perform during his concert include calls for violence which are likely to incite hatred or discrimination against named people”. Seized on appeal in the Lille case, the Council of State did not rule, the time planned for this show having been exceeded.
Seized in summary proceedings, he recalled that, in the past, the rapper had not respected commitments made before the administrative justice not to sing certain songs. “We make a disparate sampling of comments that can shock the bourgeoisie”the rapper’s other lawyer, Sanjay Mirabeau, protested at the hearing on Thursday morning.
An investigation closed without further action in 2020
The prefectures of North and Rhône had considered that the lyrics of several songs by Freeze Corleone, targeted by an investigation for “apology of terrorism”, contained “openly anti-Semitic remarks marked by admiration for the person of Adolf Hitler and the IIIe Reich ». They also highlighted comments making ” the apology “ terrorism, through a reference to the attack in Nice on July 14, 2016, on the Promenade des Anglais, which left 86 dead and hundreds injured.
“I arrive in rap like a truck that bombs hard on the…”sings the 31-year-old rapper in Haaland, a duet with German rapper Luciano, released last week. Words which led to the opening of a preliminary investigation in Nice for advocating terrorism.
In 2020, Freeze Corleone had already been the subject of an investigation, ultimately dismissed, for “provoking racial hatred” for clips containing lyrics, such as “I arrive determined like Adolf in the 1930s” or “every day RAF [rien à foutre] of the Shoah ».
In recent months, several prefectures have banned his concerts. Administrative justice allowed two dates to be held at the Zénith in Paris in November, but validated the ban on another concert near Nantes in December. The latter is currently postponed to February 28, pending a decision from the Council of State. This same Council of State ended up authorizing the rapper to perform in Rennes in March 2023, despite another ban.