May 30, 2006 20:44

French rap star facing prison

For calling the country a 'slut'

A French rap star is to appear in court today (May 30) charged with offending public decency with a song in which he referred to the country as a "slut" and vowed to "piss" on national heroes Napoleon and Charles de Gaulle.

Monsieur R is facing three years in prison or a €75,000 (£51,000) fine after an MP from the ruling UMP party launched legal action against him over his current album ‘Politikment Incorrekt’, reports The Guardian.

In the video for the song ‘FranSSe’, Monsieur R, whose real name is Richard Makela, appears dressed as a gendarme with two naked women rubbing against the French flag as he rapped: "France is a bitch, don't forget to fuck her till she's exhausted/You have to treat her like a slut, man." At another point in the song, he sang: "I piss on Napoleon and on General de Gaulle."

MP Daniel Mach proposed a law making it a criminal offence to insult the dignity of France and the French state upon hearing the album. He has since taken action against Makela, 30, for making and disseminating "violent and pornographic messages" to which minors could get access.

The case is the latest in a series of stand-offs between MPs and rap stars. In 2003, Nicolas Sarkozy, the interior minister, brought a criminal case against the rap band Sniper, saying their music was anti-semitic, racist and insulting.

In one song, ‘La France’, they referred to their home country as a "bitch". The case was thrown out of court last year. The same lawyer who defended Sniper is acting for Makela.

Makela, who maws born and brought up in neighbouring Belgium, told Le Parisien he did not target any particular group but rapped against "the system".