Two people were arrested this Wednesday (18) in connection with the murder of a right-wing activist in Lyon, eastern France. With the new arrests, the total number of arrests rose to eleven, including the six directly involved in the crime that shocked the country in recent days.
Among those investigated is the advisor to a parliamentarian from the left-wing France Insubmissa (LFI) party, who was allegedly involved in the lynching of mathematics student Quentin Deranque, aged 23, who died from head trauma last Saturday.
According to Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran, the victim was “thrown to the ground and beaten by at least six hooded people” outside a university event attended by MEP Rima Hassan, a member of the LFI. The student and right-wing activist protested on the sidelines of the conference.
The French newspaper The Parisian reported that one of those detained this Wednesday was a known member of the radical group The Youth Guard (The Young Guard), dissolved by the government last July due to its extremist and violent positions. They present themselves as an “anti-fascist” youth group.
The left-wing LFI party, led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is accused of harboring La Jeune Guardie (The Young Guard) despite a government ban. One of the group’s founders, Raphaël Arnault, is an LFI member of the National Assembly, and one of his parliamentary advisors, Jacques-Elie Favrot, is among those arrested for the beating.
According to reports in the local press, Quentin Deranque and two other young people who were protesting against the university conference in Lyon were surrounded by a group of masked individuals about two kilometers from the Faculty of Political Sciences. After an initial confrontation between left and right groups, the three activists were chased and cornered.
Two of them managed to escape, but Quentin, who was hit several times in the head with kicks, remained motionless on the ground next to a lamp post until a friend came to his aid. Taken to the hospital in critical condition, he died two days later as a result of head trauma, according to the autopsy.
The crime shocked the country last week and continues to impact French political life. President Emmanuel Macron spoke about the episode, describing it as “unprecedented violence”.
In a publication in X, he said that “in the Republic, no cause, no ideology will ever justify death.”
A day after the activist’s death, Justice Minister Gerard Darmanin accused LFI politicians of instigating violent acts in their speeches.
The leader of the LFI, politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon, denied any responsibility in the case. On social media, he asked supporters not to take “the incitement to justice into their own hands.”
