Paris Court tries Anti-Racism Activist for Statue Attack By John Leicester, Associated Press Published May 11, 2021 A worker from Paris’ City Hall cleans the statue of Jean-Baptiste Colbert, in Paris. Trial began on Monday for Franco Lollia, accused of covering in graffiti a statue that honours Jean-Baptiste Colbert, a 17th century royal minister who wrote rules governing slaves in France’s overseas colonies and stands in front of the National Assembly, a prominent landmark overlooking the Seine River in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File) A French activist for Black rights went on trial in Paris on Monday for defacing a statue of a historical figure from France’s colonial, slave-trading past, calling the protest a political act to denounce deep-seated racism.