French far-left, Antifa writer Ghislain Gilberti and his son were savagely attacked on Saturday by Muslims shouting "filthy white".

Belfort

It appears that the group of Muslim men had been upset by one of his novels, according to police. Gilberti and his 12-year-old son were attacked in Belfort, France on Saturday. The active antifascist and his family have also received death threats from Muslims angry at the prologue title “jihad” of his bestseller.

Police opened an investigation after Gilberti was taken to hospital with a broken arm by emergency services, following the assault.

On social media, the news of the attack on Ghislain Gilberti was extensively commented. On Saturday around 17:00, the novelist was walking down Boulevard Carnot. At Reiset Street, he met a group of youths who violently assaulted him. Then the suspect and his friends ran away.

The author suffered a severe fracture of the humerus, and emergency services took him to Belfort-Nord hospital where, according to sources, he had to be operated on.

Gilberti said he received blows to his back before being called a “filthy white” by four men aged between 20 and 30 years, who held him down while attacking him.

The Muslims also kicked his 12-year-old son in the head and stomach, shouting “it’s the same price for you!”. They then shouted as his 11-year-old daughter who was also present: “We don’t forgive, we don’t forget.” The writer lost consciousness during the assault.

Following the attack, he will now request full police protection, according to Gilberti’s publisher on Facebook.

Police say they are aware of the incident, and have interviewed several witnesses. These were heard at length by a judicial police officer in order to verify the writer’s statements. The latter, who has long claimed to be threatened, said he had been a victim of “Salafists”.

L’est Republicain reported that Salafists began threatening the author and his family, and harassing them even at home following the paperback release of Gilberti’s book about a fictional jihadist group who finance their actions by means of international drug trafficking. He was already assigned temporary police protection following incidents in March.

Gilberti has filed a complaint at Belfort police station: “They rang my doorbell again and uttered death threats against my children and my girlfriend, firing a Kalashnikov.

The author has decided to no longer house his two children with whom he has alternating custody. “I get along very well with my neighbors, many of whom are of foreign origin and Muslim culture. I have never had a glance in the street. Freedom of expression allows me to write fiction and I regret that this fundamental value is not respected because of prejudices.”

Gilberti has denounced his Muslim critics as unintelligent readers. “The authors of the threats have not read the book, or they have just skim read it. I did not insult Islam in the book. I am rather a defender of all faiths and I combat racist acts in an anti-fascist movement.”