MONTREAL – A Quebec man has been found in contempt of court for refusing to remove swastikas from outside his home in a municipality that he accuses of being “the most racist city in the world.”
A Quebec Superior Court judge ruled earlier this month that Yahia Meddah had not taken seriously injunctions ordering him to remove the offensive signs.
The swastikas first appeared last June on Meddah’s property in St-Barnabé-Sud, a community of roughly 1,000 people northeast of Montreal, following a dispute with the municipality over an inspection of his home.
They were covered up following a court injunction, but they reappeared last November along with an image of the face of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un superimposed on the body of Adolf Hitler giving the Nazi salute.
They have remained in place since then, along with a website detailing Meddah’s grievances against the municipality, despite the court granting a further injunction ordering them removed.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for April 24, at which point the court could order the removal of the signs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 25, 2025.
