Michel Houellebecq charged over 2022 remarks about Muslims in a magazine interview

French novelist Michel Houellebecq, 70, has been formally placed under investigation over remarks about Muslims that he made in a magazine interview almost four years ago. A judge in Nanterre, near Paris, announced the step on Tuesday, 10 November.

What happened?

In French law, being "mis en examen" means a judge has formal grounds to investigate you. It is not a conviction. Houellebecq, the author of the novel "Soumission" ("Submission"), is under investigation for complicity in incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence against a group of people because of their origin or religion.

The case goes back to an interview with the philosopher Michel Onfray. It appeared at the end of November 2022 in the magazine Front populaire, which Onfray's circle runs.

What did he say?

In the interview, Houellebecq presented Muslims as a threat to the security of "native" French people. He also said the "great replacement" (a conspiracy theory claiming that elites are replacing the native population) was, in his view, a fact rather than a theory.

He also predicted attacks on Muslims. "There will be bombings and shootings in mosques, in cafés frequented by Muslims, in short a Bataclan in reverse," he said. That was a reference to the jihadist attacks in Paris on 13 November 2015.

How did we get here?

In January 2023, the Union des mosquées de France (a federation of mosques) filed a complaint in Nanterre. It targeted Houellebecq, Onfray and Front populaire's director, Stéphane Simon.

After the interview, Houellebecq published a book, "Quelques mois dans ma vie". In it he revisited the interview, called some of his remarks clumsy and corrected certain passages.

What's next?

Houellebecq's lawyers dispute the offence. They say a "prophet of doom" does not wish for disaster and that his place is not in a court. They also say he deplores the growing judicialisation of intellectual debates.

The investigation will now continue. Being placed under formal investigation does not mean a trial is certain.