近日，一张法国男子用法国国旗擦屁股的照片令法国民众感到愕然和愤怒。照片中，一名男子背对着镜头，裤子堆在脚踝处，一面法国国旗挡在臀部，可以看得出他是在用国旗擦屁股。法国司法部长称这种侮辱国旗的行为是不可接受的，并下令对该行为人诉诸于法律。这张照片最初出现在法国媒体零售商FNAC的摄影比赛上，被评为“政治错误”奖，后被法国免费报纸《地铁报》刊出。在老兵组织的抗议下，这张照片被迅速撤下。法国法律规定，在私人或者文化活动中侮辱国旗的行为不算犯罪。对此，法国司法部长认为，法律应该有权力惩罚这样的行为，既然目前的法律条文中没有这样的规定，那么就应该修改法律。
France's justice minister has called for legal action to be taken against a man who was photographed wiping his bottom with the French flag.
Michele Alliot-Marie said it was unacceptable for the tricolor to be insulted in this way, and called for those responsible to be prosecuted.
Her response came after the photograph was displayed in a competition run by the media retailer, FNAC.
The image won a special mention in the "politically incorrect" category.
Taken on the street, the photograph shows a man seen from behind: his trousers are around his ankles and he is apparently wiping his bottom with a French flag.
Law-change call
The picture appeared last month in Metro, a free national newspaper, and was hastily withdrawn from the contest in the southern city of Nice after complaints from veterans' groups.
"As soon as we saw that people were shocked by the image, we withdrew it from the list of winners, with the photographer's consent, and we have not exhibited it," said a FNAC spokeswoman.
The government got involved after being alerted by a local MP, says a reporter in Paris.
But under French law, it is only an offence to insult the flag in an event organized by the public authorities - not in a private, cultural event such as this.
Ms Alliot-Marie said the law should be changed.
"Presumably the law has the legal means to punish such an intolerable act against the French flag," said the minister's spokesman.
"If the existing law proves incomplete in this regard, it should be revised."（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑） |
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