Aya Nakamura became the target of a racially motivated stunt after she was announced as a performer for the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

Thirteen individuals connected to a racist incident that targeted the French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura after she was announced as a performer for the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony went to court in Paris, France, on Wednesday. 

The thirteen involved, who have ties to the French extreme far-right group Les Natifs (the Natives), and span ages between 20 and 31, face charges of publicly inciting hatred or violence — or complicity in such incitement — on the grounds of ethnicity, nationality, race or religion, France 24 reported. 

Groups like Les Natifs have cropped up abroad and espouse white-nationalist views and “great-replacement” conspiracy theories. 

The defendants are accused of unveiling a banner along the River Seine that read: “No way, Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market,” in reference to Mali’s capital where the 30-year-old star hails from and her smash hit “Djadja.”

While three were present in court, the remaining 10 were represented in court by their lawyers. The group’s 24-year-old spokesman, Stanislas T., refused to answer questions and instead read a statement explaining his actions, according to CBS 19 News. 

“What is at stake today is the issue of freedom of expression and the independence of the judicial system,” said the 24-year-old spokesman, who further denied that the group targeted Nakamura for her race but instead for her vulgarity. 

When the “Baddies” singer was initially announced among the 2024 Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony lineup in March 2024, she was met with intense far-right criticism. Many, including far-right leader Marine Le Pen felt Nakamura didn’t accurately represent France. 

“The French don’t want to be represented in the eyes of the world by a singer whose style is influenced by the hood and Africa. This is a political move by Emmanuel Macron, who wants to tell the world that the face of France is multicultural, and we’re no longer a nation with Christian roots and European culture,” Le Pen was quoted as saying at the time by NPR.  

After the banner was unveiled, the singer and anti-discrimination NGOs filed complaints with the Paris prosecutor’s office, leading to an investigation by France’s anti-hate crimes organization, OCLCH.

Despite her detractors’ claims that she would “humiliate” France or wasn’t an accurate representation of the European nation, she remains one of the country’s top-selling pop artists. 

Addressing the controversy and the banner at the time online, the singer said, per the outlets, “You can be racist, but you’re not deaf… and that’s what really bothers you! I’m suddenly the number one topic of debate — but what do I really owe you? Nothing.”

Prosecutors in the trial are seeking up to four months in jail for the defendants.