French Mayor Sentenced After Setting Fire to Romani Camp

18 May 2007

According to a 15 May 2006 report by the French Romani organisation La Voix des Rroms, a local court in Strasbourg found Mr Michal Habig, mayor of the northeastern French town Ensisheim, guilty in connection with the destruction of an illegal Romani camp at the outskirts of the town. The court reportedly imposed a six-month suspended sentence on Mayor Habig for his role in the event which took place in January. According to La Voix des Rroms, on the day of the event, Mayor Habig ordered his staff to burn down a deserted fourteencaravan camp, himself throwing a flaming rag into the heart of what he described as a "veritable shantytown". The case reportedly sparked fierce controversy – with local residents voicing support for the mayor's radical action – while French anti-racism and Roma rights groups joined the civil lawsuit against him. Further information on the human rights situation of Roma in France is available HERE. 

(La Voix des Rroms)