A French prosecutor has asked a northern court to fine a former Foreign Legion commander for taking part in an outlawed anti-migrant protest in Calais.
Four-star general Christian Piquemal went on trial Thursday in Boulogne-sur-Mer after he and some 150 other people defied a ban on a demonstration last February in nearby Calais, a port city hosting a sprawling migrant camp.
Prosecutor requested a 500-euro ($570) fine for the 75-year-old Piquemal, according to Dominique Mattei, the general’s lawyer. The court will return its ruling on May 26.
The protest, organized by the anti-Islam movement PEGIDA, took place a few weeks before authorities ordered a mass eviction in part of the slum camp where thousands of migrants have gathered to try to sneak across the English Channel to Britain.
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