Houellebecq's lawyers say the remarks contain no exhortation and fall within free expression
Thibault de MontbrialLawyer for Michel Houellebecq, in a statement with his co-counsel Louis Cailliez to BFMTV and AFP
Speaking for Houellebecq with his co-counsel Louis Cailliez, Thibault de Montbrial says the writer contests the offense, that the remarks contain no exhortation and belong to freedom of opinion and expression, and that a prophet of misfortune does not wish for misfortune.
Responding to
Houellebecq's 2022 remarks about Muslims contain no exhortation, even implicit, and therefore fall within freedom of opinion and expression.
“Michel Houellebecq contests the criminal offense of which he is accused. The remarks at issue contain no element of exhortation, even implicit, and therefore fall within freedom of opinion and expression (Translated from French. Original: Michel Houellebecq conteste le délit pénal qui lui est reproché. Les propos incriminés ne contiennent pas de dimension d'exhortation, même implicite, et relèvent donc de la liberté d'opinion et d'expression)”
Reporting
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Michel Houellebecq is placed under formal investigation over 2022 remarks about Muslims; his lawyers say the words fall within free expression
On November 10, 2026, an investigating judge at the Nanterre court, west of Paris, placed the novelist Michel Houellebecq under formal investigation (mis en examen) for complicity in provocation to discrimination, hatred or violence against a group because of its origin or religion, Le Figaro, AFP and BFMTV report, citing a source close to the case. A mise en examen is a step in a French judicial investigation, not a conviction. The case concerns remarks about Muslims in a conversation with the philosopher Michel Onfray, published in a special issue of Onfray's magazine Front Populaire in November 2022. AFP quotes Houellebecq as saying there that the wish of the native-born French population was not that Muslims assimilate but that they stop robbing and attacking them, or else that they leave. The Union des mosquées de France (UMF) and the anti-racism group MRAP filed the complaints behind the investigation. The Grande Mosquée de Paris filed one in December 2022 and dropped it in January 2023 after meeting the writer. His lawyers say the remarks contain no exhortation and fall within freedom of opinion and expression. The UMF's lawyer says freedom of expression is fundamental but cannot justify everything.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
BFMTV report in French, written with AFP. It gives the full wording of the charge, quotes two passages of the November 2022 interview, says the Union des mosquées de France filed its complaint in Nanterre in January 2023, and quotes Houellebecq's lawyers.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
AFP report in French, published by France 24 and carried by Yahoo Actualités. It reports that an investigating judge in Nanterre placed Michel Houellebecq under formal investigation on November 10, 2026, quotes the November 2022 remark at issue, and carries statements from his lawyers, Thibault de Montbrial and Louis Cailliez, and from Najwa El Haïté, lawyer for the Union des mosquées de France.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
BFMTV reports that an investigating judge in Nanterre placed Houellebecq under formal investigation on November 10, 2026, and that the Union des mosquées de France had filed a complaint in Nanterre in January 2023.
After the quotation
The lawyers add that a prophet of misfortune does not wish for misfortune, that his place is not in a courtroom, and that Houellebecq deplores the growing judicialization of intellectual debate (translation).
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Michel Houellebecq's November 2022 remarks about Muslims in Front Populaire, now under judicial investigation. His lawyers dispute that the remarks amount to incitement, saying they contain no exhortation and belong to free expression, which challenges the characterization. They do not argue that the content of the remarks was right, so defends or excuses does not fit.
- Recorded on
- Published here
More from this case
Read the full caseRikki Schlott says France treats Houellebecq as a greater threat than rioters
“The man who defends his nation's spirit and integrity is treated as a greater threat than the man who burns that culture to the ground.”Read statement
Omar Youssef Souleimane calls the remarks a forecast and the case a use of the courts by Islamists
“It was a forecast, the vision of a future in which such violence would take place (Translated from French. Original: C'était une prospective, la vision d'un avenir où de telles violences auraient lieu)”Read statement
MRAP says it never accepted Houellebecq's explanations and kept its complaint
Mouvement contre le racisme et pour l'amitié entre les peuples
“We never considered that these explanations held up; withdrawing our complaint was never in question (Translated from French. Original: Nous n'avons jamais considéré que ces explications tenaient la route, il n'a jamais été question de retirer notre plainte)”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Houellebecq's lawyers say the remarks contain no exhortation and fall within free expression
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/8672-speaking-for-houellebecq-with-his-co-counsel-louis
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Houellebecq's lawyers say the remarks contain no exhortation and fall within free expression". First published: 2026-11-12. Last updated: 2026-11-12. https://disputeindex.com/events/8672-speaking-for-houellebecq-with-his-co-counsel-louis