— A 19-year-old neo-Nazi was sentenced today to two years’ imprisonment for assault against a Jewish man wearing a yarmulka. A Paris criminal court found no mitigating circumstances in favor of Nicolas Gillet who was given an additional one-year suspended sentence and a five-year term of probation.
The victim, 40-year-old Paul Blanzi, was awarded 20,000 francs ($4,000) for immediate medical expenses and 5,800 francs ($1,200) in damages. It is one of the severest sentences imposed in recent years by a French court on a first offender for this type of offense.
The victim was driving by the Paris Assas Law School when he was attacked by a score of men armed with steel bars, sticks and chains. Gillet is a former member in a neo-Nazi organization, The Youth Front.
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