Disc Jockey Must Pay For ‘Joke’ About Cop’s Death

A disc jockey was ordered Tuesday to pay a slain police officer’s family $5,000 for calling the man’s shooting “good news” during a broadcast.

Disc jockey Francois Meunier announced the death of a policeman during a shootout in Nice on the pop station Skyrock in January, repeatedly commenting: “A cop dead in Nice - now there’s a piece of good news.”

Meunier, who was fired for his comments, will also be required to pay one symbolic franc, or about 20 cents, to each of three police unions who took him to court and to pay for the publication of his sentence in three newspapers.

In announcing its judgment, the court rejected the defendant’s claim to have been joking.

An individual’s death is the subject “neither of jokes, nor of derision, particularly when it occurs in dramatic circumstances and strikes down a police officer carrying out his duty and ensuring the safety of his fellow citizens,” the court said.

The disc jockey’s case is one of several currently before the courts concerning alleged incitement to violence against police, which is on the rise in France.

On Aug. 30, Interior Minister Jean-Louis Debre announced he would prosecute a rap group for advocating anti-police violence in their songs.