Controversial French writer Houellebecq probed over comments on Muslims

Controversial French writer Michel Houellebecq was placed under formal investigation on Tuesday on suspicion of complicity in incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence, a source close to the case told AFP.

Houellebecq, 70, is arguably France’s most famous writer internationally, but has grown increasingly controversial as his pessimistic views on the decline of Western civilisation are seen as aligning with the ascendant far-right.

The investigation concerns comments about Muslims published in 2022 in Front Populaire magazine.

In the interview with philosopher Michel Onfray, the author of “Submission” described Muslims as a threat to the security of French people.

“What the native French population, as they say, wants is not for Muslims to assimilate but for them to stop stealing from and attacking them,” Houellebecq said. “Or, alternatively, that they leave.”

He also warned of future “Bataclans in reverse” targeting Muslims, a reference to the jihadist attacks in Paris on Nov 13, 2015.

In 2023, the Union of Mosques of France (UMF) filed a complaint against Houellebecq, Onfray and Front Populaire director Stephane Simon.

In a statement to AFP, the writer’s lawyers said Houellebecq’s statements contained no element of incitement.

“A prophet of doom does not wish for misfortune to occur, quite the contrary. His place is not in a courtroom,” Thibault de Montbrial and Louis Cailliez said.

“Michel Houellebecq can only regret the growing tendency to litigate intellectual debate.”

In his memoir “A Few Months in My Life: October 2022-March 2023”, Houellebecq described his remarks as clumsy, saying he had been the victim of his own stupidity or naivety, as well as of the greed of those who sought to exploit his notoriety.

“Freedom of expression is fundamental, but it cannot justify everything,” Najwa El Haite, a lawyer for the Union of Mosques of France, told AFP.

“When it is established, incitement to hatred does not fall within the realm of intellectual debate. It is now for the courts to assess the matter, while respecting the presumption of innocence.”

The Grand Mosque of Paris had also considered legal action against Houellebecq, but later decided not to pursue it after meeting him.

Houellebecq made his name dissecting touchy subjects — including sex, race and religion — with dark irony and clinical detachment.

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