sexta-feira, 25 de dezembro de 2015

Hollande accused of 'betraying Republic' over dual-nationality plan

O presidente francês François Hollande foi acusado de trair os “valores da esquerda e da República Francesa”, por querer avançar com uma medida que prevê a perda da cidadania francesa para os cidadãos com dupla nacionalidade condenados por terrorismo.

Segundo conta o jornal The Guardian, historiadores, políticos e alguns membros do Partido Socialista do país criticaram a ideia por promover “uma divisão fundamental do povo francês em duas categorias, contra o espírito da Constituição francesa”, resume Jacques Toubon, ex-ministro da Justiça e atual consultor constitucional para direitos civis.

Para Anne Hidalgo, presidente da Câmara de Paris, a medida não vai “contribuir em nada à luta contra o terrorismo”.

A ministra da Justiça, Christiane Taubira, disse esta semana a uma rádio argelina citada pelo Guardian que a medida “representa um problema fundamental em termos de direitos nacionais por local de nascimento”.

Outro crítico da ideia é Pascal Cherki, membro do conselho Nacional do Partido Socialista francês. O político afirmou esta quinta-feira à rádio RMC que votará contra a proposta e que não entende “como um partido de esquerda pode criticar [os partidos de] a extrema-direita e apropriar-se de uma medida deles”. E remata: “Vou tentar levar esta defesa com toda convicção ao máximo de membros republicanos da esquerda e direita para que se oponham a esta lei que põe em causa o direito de solo no nosso país”.

Eva Joly, magistrada francesa membro do Partido Verde francês, concorda com Cherki. “É uma medida sem significado prático que não vai combater o terrorismo. É puramente simbólica e política. É revoltante. Vejo isso como uma maneira de dividir os franceses e sacrificar os nossos valores”, defendeu em citação do Guardian.

Mas a medida conta com o apoio popular. De acordo com uma sondagem realizada pelo instituto Elabe em novembro, 94% dos franceses apoia a perda da cidadania francesa para os cidadãos com dupla nacionalidade que forem condenados por terrorismo. A pergunta foi feita a mil pessoas através da Internet.

Outro defensor da ideia é o primeiro-ministro francês, Manuel Valls, que afirmou esta quarta-feira após uma reunião do Conselho de ministros que a “medida era uma ‘multa pesada’ que poderia ser legitimamente usada contra aqueles que traíram o estado ao pegar em armas contra companheiros cidadãos”.

Segundo as contas do jornal The Guardian, há cerca de 3,3 milhões de franceses com dupla nacionalidade a viver no país. A Constituição francesa atual prevê que apenas cidadãos naturalizados que adquiriram dupla nacionalidade dez anos antes de cometer um crime grave podem perder a dupla cidadania. A lei não inclui cidadãos com dupla nacionalidade nascidos em França.

A medida de Hollande será debatida no Parlamento francês em fevereiro de 2016 e faz parte de um conjunto de alterações que o primeiro-ministro quer fazer na Constituição do país com o objetivo de impedir novos ataques terroristas ao país.



Hollande accused of 'betraying Republic' over dual-nationality plan

French president pressing ahead with popular but controversial proposal to strip citizenship from bi-nationals convicted of terrorism

Angelique Chrisafis in Paris
Thursday 24 December 2015 15.05 GMT

François Hollande has been accused of betraying the values of the left and the French Republic by pressing ahead with plans to strip French citizenship from dual-nationality citizens who are convicted of terrorism.

The threat to revoke nationality was a central plank of the French president’s hardline “war” speech to a joint session of parliament in Versailles days after the Paris attacks in November.

It has proved popular with the public – one poll last month showed that 94% of French people approved of the proposal. But Hollande’s critics say the measure would have little practical effect in dissuading terrorists and risks stigmatising people further by creating the symbolic idea of a two-tier French state where certain citizens are worth more than others.

This week it was thought that the measure had been abandoned amid fierce criticism from historians and commentators and dissent within the Socialist party. But on Wednesday the Socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, announced that the government would press on, saying the measure was a “heavy sanction” that could legitimately be used against those who “betrayed” the state by taking up arms against fellow citizens. It will now be debated in February.

Jacques Toubon, a former centre-right justice minister who is now the French constitutional ombudsman for citizens’ rights, warned against “a fundamental division of French people into two categories, against the spirit and letter of the French constitution”.

On the left, the justice minister, Christiane Taubira, suggested this week that the measure would be shelved, telling Algerian radio it “posed a fundamental problem in terms of national rights by birthplace, to which I am firmly attached”.

Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist mayor of Paris, tweeted her strong opposition to the measure, saying it would “bring nothing to the fight against terrorism”.

Stripping criminals of French nationality has been championed for years by the far-right Front National, and was always criticised by the left. But the Socialist president, seeking to show himself as strong and uncompromising, sparked surprise when he vowed to enshrine the measure in the constitution as part of a wide-ranging amendment aimed at stepping up the fight against terrorism. Several of the assailants who took part in the recent Paris attacks were French by birth.

The notion of stripping French nationality from dual citizens is a highly sensitive issue in France. The foundation stone of the secular republic is that all citizens should be equal and free from distinctions of race, class or religion. But the rise of the far-right and the growing political emphasis on national identity has led to an increasingly tense atmosphere in which many French people whose families have immigrant roots going back generations continue to feel discriminated against.

Because French citizenship can be granted to those born on French soil, the country has many dual citizens who also have citizenship of former French colonies, often in north Africa. There are estimated to be about 3.3 million French people with a second nationality living in France.

Under current law, only dual-national citizens who have been naturalised and acquired French citizenship less than 10 years before a convicted crime can be stripped of their French nationality, not those who are born French. But Hollande’s government is seeking to extend this to stripping nationality from all dual-national citizens convicted of terrorism, including those who were born French.

Pascal Cherki, a rebel within the Socialist party, said it was a far-right measure and he could not see how the left could fight the far-right while “appropriating measures from its programme”.

Eva Joly, a high-profile former fraud prosecutor and Green party figure who has dual nationality, said: “It’s a measure with no practical significance that will not combat terrorism. It’s purely symbolic and political. It’s revolting; I see it as a way to divide French people and sacrifice our values.”


The measure will be part of the government’s package of proposals to be enshrined in the constitution – including emergency security powers such as house arrests and the right to raid houses without judicial oversight. Approval requires a three-fifths majority of both houses of parliament, and so will need the support of the right, which is largely in favour.

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