French mayor denies refusing burial of Roma baby amid uproar

French officials voiced disgust today after the mayor of a Paris suburb reportedly refused to allow a dead Roma baby to be buried in the municipal cemetery although the mayor himself later denied the claims.
Christian Leclerc, the conservative mayor of Champlan, about 23 kilometres south of Paris, reportedly explained his refusal on the grounds that the cemetery has "few available plots".
"Priority is given to those who pay their local taxes," Leclerc was quoted as saying by Le Parisien daily today.
However, amid uproar in France over the incident, Leclerc told AFP today his words had been "taken out of context" and he had been a victim of the "wrong interpretation".

"At no stage was I opposed to this burial. It's been blown out of proportion," he said.
Leclerc said he was "really sorry" that the story had become such big news and said he would offer his condolences to the family.

Before the denial, Laurence Rossignol, a junior government minister for the family, said on Twitter the refusal was "an inhumane humiliation" for the family, adding the hashtag #honte or "shame".
And France's defender of human rights, Jacques Toubon, said he was "shocked, stunned by the news".
The baby, identified only as Maria Francesca, was born on October 14 and died in the early hours of December 26.

"The mother tried to breastfeed her at 5:00 am and the little girl was cold. She was dead," said Marie-Helene Brelaud, a member of the ASEFRR association, which supports Roma families in the region.
Maria Francesca was rushed to hospital in nearby Corbeil-Essonnes, where she was pronounced dead from sudden infant death syndrome.
The family asked a burial firm in Corbeil-Essonnes to request permission from the authorities to lay the infant to rest but, according to the firm's manager Julien Guenzi, the mayor refused "without explanation".
"He doesn't have to justify himself, but responses like that are very rare," Guenzi told AFP.

Leclerc told AFP: "There was a choice between Corbeil and Champlan. I agreed on Wednesday morning to either scenario. I have a text message proving this."
The mayor of Wissous, a few kilometres away, has since offered to host the burial, telling AFP it was a "a question of humanity".
"The pain of a mother who carried a child for nine months, and lost her after two and a half months must not be worsened," mayor Richard Trinquier told.