PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron led nationwide outrage Saturday after an ultra-conservative magazine portrayed a black lawmaker as a slave.
The French presidency said Macron called Danielle Obono from the far-left party France Unbowed and "expressed his clear condemnation of any form of racism". The magazine, Valeurs Actuelles, which caters to readers on the right and far right, showed Obono in chains with an iron collar on her neck to illustrate a seven-page imaginary story.
Prime Minister Jean Castex said it was a "revolting publication that calls for clear condemnation" and told Obono that she had the government's backing.
"I share the indignation of lawmaker Obono," he said.
"One is free to write a putrid novel within the limits fixed by the law. One is free to hate it. I hate it," said Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti.
Obono tweeted: "The extreme right -- odious, stupid and cruel. In brief, like itself."
The anti-racism body SOS Racisme deplored rising hate speech against African and Arab politicians and said it was mulling what legal measures could be taken to counter this.
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