It’s a refusal that risks making noise. The Franco-Iranian artist Marjane Satrapi, who made herself known worldwide with the comic strip and the film Persepolisannounced, Monday January 13, “decline” the Legion of Honor.
Arriving in France in 1994, naturalized in 2006, the 55-year-old designer and director was promoted to the rank of Knight of the Legion of Honor in July 2024. A decoration that she decided to refuse because of her “principles” and its “attachment” to his “homeland of birth”she explains in a letter addressed to the Minister of Culture, Rachida Dati, published on Instagram.
“I cannot ignore what I perceive as a hypocritical attitude of France towards Iran”she adds, refuting everything ” contempt “ towards the institution that distinguished her.
In a video posted a few hours later on the social network, the artist evokes a “a mark of solidarity with the Iranians, especially with women and with Iranian youth, but also with [ses] French compatriots held hostage in Iran ».
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Olivier Grondeau, Frenchman detained in Iran: “They came and stuck me in a windowless cell”
Read later
“Need for concrete actions”
“For a while, I have really struggled to understand France’s policy towards Iran”she continues, regretting that “Young freedom-loving Iranians, dissidents, artists are being refused visas”including tourists, while children“Iranian oligarchs” with “walk around Paris as in Saint-Tropez without this posing any problem”.
According to her, “supporting the women’s revolution in Iran cannot be reduced to photos with victims or celebrities during the commemorations of the death of Mahsa Amini”a young woman arrested for violating the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code and whose death sparked a vast protest movement in 2022.
Also read (2022) | Article reserved for our subscribers In Iran, anger grows after the death of Mahsa Amini, who became the symbol of the regime’s brutality
Read later
“The Iranians do not need communication, we need concrete actions”argues Marjane Satrapi. “The refusal of the Legion of Honor is in no way an action or a thought against France. On the contrary, I deeply love this country that is mine”she insists, wishing “that France remains true to itself”.
“I will be honored when all the defenders of freedom are at my side”she concludes.
Newsletter
” Policy “
Every week, “Le Monde” analyzes current political issues for you
Register
Contacted by Agence France-Presse, Marjane Satrapi explained that the presentation of her Legion of Honor was to take place in January. “When you have a people fighting for democracy (…) we must support him”she said.
Read the interview with Marjane Satrapi (in 2020): Article reserved for our subscribers Marjane Satrapi: “At 10, I was training to become a political prisoner”
Read later
