The case surrounding Professor Julien Théry takes on a new dimension after a 2024 publication resurfaces.
A week after the controversy sparked by a post describing twenty personalities as “genocidaires to be boycotted under all circumstances” , UNI Lyon denounces “the dissemination of openly anti-Semitic caricatures” on the social networks of the medieval historian from the University of Lyon 2.
The student association—which identifies as right-wing—first addresses the “Professor Thery affair at Lyon 2.” It reminds readers on its social media that last week, “Lyon 2 was rocked by a controversy targeting J. THERY, an antisemitic history professor. He had published a list of people he described, in his words, as ‘genocidaires to be boycotted.'” UNI claims to have requested “immediate disciplinary measures” from the university president , but says it has received no response, apart from a message from the chief of staff explaining that she “had no information to share with us.”
The UNI denounces new content deemed problematic:
“[We learned] with astonishment this Monday of the dissemination of openly anti-Semitic caricatures on his own social media accounts by Mr. THERY. This time it’s a meme depicting a Jew stealing a wallet.” This resurfaced post reportedly dates back to January 2024.
The association reiterates its demand to the administration: “We reiterate our demand to the president of univ_lyon2 and require them to take immediate disciplinary action against this notorious anti-Semite. This cannot be allowed to go unpunished!”
The university has not yet commented on these new reports. However, it announced last week that it had referred the initial publication to the public prosecutor , pursuant to Article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. In a statement, it indicated that “the prosecutor has confirmed […] the opening of an investigation.”
The political reaction was swift. In particular, Laurent Wauquiez, former president of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region and now a member of parliament and special advisor to Fabrice Pannekoucke, denounced on social media a “new blunder at Lyon 2” and stated: “Still no meaningful reaction, no questioning of the situation. The region will not reinstate any partnerships until the university has restored order to its operations.”
