What is the African Black Defense League, which Gerald Darmanin wants to dissolve? – BFMTV

This organization born in 2017 is defined on social networks as a “revolutionary movement for the defense of the rights of Afro-descendants and Africans”.

“I have decided to launch the procedure initiating the dissolution of the Black African Defense League” (LDNA), Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Monday on Twitter, characterizing this structure as “racist” calling for “hatred and discrimination”. He accuses the organization of being at the origin of “disturbances to public order”, in particular this weekend in Val-de-Reuil, in the Eure.

This is not the first time that elected officials have called for the dissolution of the LDNA, which has already been talked about for several actions in recent years.

· What is LDNA?

The first traces of this structure date back to late 2017 – early 2018, when it began posting content on social networks. This organization describes itself on its site and its social networks as a “movement against negrophobia, racism, discrimination, neocolonialism, advocating respect for the black community”, but also a “revolutionary movement for the defense of the rights of Afro-descendants and Africans “.

This organization does not seem to be an association in the official sense of the term, that is to say that made a declaration to the registry of associations. But, contacted by BFMTV, the Ministry of the Interior, explains that it is quite possible to dissolve a de facto group, even if it has no legal existence.

The organization helps people who are victims of racism, but it is through its actions on the ground, from 2018, that the LDNA is known. International topics such as slavery in Libya, the situation in Mali, Haiti and Venezuela are also discussed on their Youtube page with 33,000 subscribers.

In 2018, one of the members of the organization entered a banking branch in Hauts-de-Seine to request the dismissal of one of the employees, belonging to the far-right group Generation Identity. In 2019, some activists of the league demonstrate, alongside other associations, against the representation of the tragedy The Suppliants by Aeschylus at the Sorbonne. In question, the use of masks and dark make-up by white actors, which is similar for the militants to a blackface.

The same year, the league demonstrated against an exhibition on the pharaoh Tutankhamun at the Grande Halle de la Villette, chanting “No to the spoliation of African history” or “The pharaohs were not white!”, As reported. so Le Figaro. In 2020, members of the organization also broke into the newspaper’s premises illegally. Current values, after the publication of a fiction in which the deputy LFI Danièle Obono had been portrayed as a slave.

· Who is behind this movement?

This movement was founded by Egountchi Behanzin, it is specified on the Youtube page of the LDNA. The man appears in almost every video on the organization’s channel and is present at most of the actions, often wearing a beret with the gold logo on a black background of the LDNA. On his Twitter page, he describes himself as “political activist, pan-African resistance fighter, freedom fighter and revolutionary”.

“The LDNA was founded and is headed by Sylvain Afoua, alias ‘Egountchi Behanzin'”, writes the website Conspiracy Watch, who devoted an article to the organization. This assumed name comes from the king of Abomey (former South African kingdom of present-day Benin) called Béhanzin, known to have fought against the French colonial forces.

Egountchi Behanzin was sentenced, in November 2019, with another member of the LDNA, to six months in prison for “act of intimidation” against the former mayor of Levallois-Perret (Hauts-de-Seine ), Patrick Balkany. The two members of the LDNA had filmed in the street following the elected official and questioning him several times about problems encountered by a woman in the city, as recalled The Parisian.

· Why is the movement criticized?

This is not the first time that this movement has been singled out for statements deemed problematic. Last January, after the announcement of the death of two French soldiers killed in Mali, the LDNA wrote not “to regret the death of these soldiers who should not have protected in Mali the economic interests of the French criminal bourgeoisie led by Bolloré “. “French people, mobilize so that Emmanuel Macron repatriates the French military terrorists who die in Africa while protecting the interests of the French criminal bourgeoisie!”, Wrote the organization on its Facebook page.

In November 2020, the LDNA wrote on its site about General De Gaulle that it was going to “spit on his grave soon in the name of the African martyrs who deserve to be hidden on this odious genocidal character”. This declaration had provoked the ire of elected officials. MP The Republicans Julien Aubert then wrote to the Minister of the Interior to ask for the dissolution of this group, just like the deputy LR Pierre-Henri Dumont. Several politicians, including members of the National Rally, had already requested the dissolution of the association, especially since a demonstration organized against police violence in June 2020 in front of the United States Embassy.

The incidents in Val-de-Reuil occurred after a week of tensions in the city, caused by an argument between two children, Sunday September 5 afternoon. After the intervention of the parents, “clashes, involving a few hundred people” had broken out, continuing until the evening, according to a statement from the town hall. As for the altercation with members of the LDNA, the mayor PS Marc-Antoine Jamet speaks of “thirty racist and violent individuals” who “invaded the town hall” on Saturday. “Joined by 70 others”, they “tear off the door of the council chamber” and “jostle a courageous elected official wearing the tricolor scarf”.

In a right of reply, the LDNA denies that anyone was injured in their action at the town hall, and declares that black people in the town were victims of racist insults linked to the clashes last week.