Anti-racist actor jailed for abusing black policeman

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Saturday December 16, 2006


Samy Naceri, the acclaimed French actor who has spoken out against racism in France, has been sentenced to six months in jail for racial abuse.
Naceri, 44, whose father is Algerian and mother is French, won a best actor prize at Cannes film festival this year for his role as a Moroccan soldier in the French box-office hit Indigènes (Days of Glory), which rails against racism and is competing for an Oscar for best foreign film.


Last March, however, he was stopped in his car in western Paris. He later admitted having drunk 15 whiskies and taken "half a box of sedatives". He was put in a cell overnight and, in the morning, poured out a stream of abuse including strong racist insults aimed at a black officer.
In court Naceri pleaded guilty and asked the officers to forgive him. He said: "I wanted to die ... I'm ashamed about the racist remarks. It's not me. It's not my education." He told the court he had since given up alcohol and drugs.

Naceri was fined €8,000 (£5,360) and given a six-month sentence - the maximum penalty for racist abuse. Elie Arnolin, the officer he insulted, told Agence France-Presse news agency outside the court: "It was a very fair verdict, given the seriousness of the case."

Naceri has several convictions for offences including assault, speeding, drug possession and drink-driving. He faces another assault case in court on Monday.

He was discovered by the director Luc Besson, who cast him in the film Léon and the French action series Taxi. His recent film, Indigènes, portrays the forgotten Muslim heroes of the second world war. The film's four leads shared best actor prize at Cannes and mounted a media campaign against discrimination and racism in France. They persuaded President Jacques Chirac to redress the injustice of African soldiers' low war pensions.

Classic example of kidding oneself. Probably his best acting to date has been as an Anti-Racist.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/france/story/0,,1973453,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12