Trial of Rima Hassan in Paris for apology of terrorism, protesters outside court
LFI MEP Rima Hassan appeared on Tuesday in Paris on charges of apology of terrorism. Several hundred supporters gathered outside the magistrates' court.
Rima Hassan before Parisian justice, crowd mobilised in support
Several hundred people gathered on Tuesday outside the magistrates' court in Paris to support MEP La France Insoumise Rima Hassan, who is being prosecuted for apology of terrorism. According to Google News LU FR, the French-Palestinian elected representative arrived at the hearing with a keffiyeh over her shoulders.
The case concerns a message published at the end of March on her X account, since deleted. Hassan mentioned Kozo Okamoto, a Japanese national involved in the attack on Tel-Aviv airport in 1972, which cost the lives of 26 people. The public prosecutor's office was seized following a report from the Interior Minister, then from the European Jewish Organisation (OJE) and Licra.
Before her supporters gathered on the courthouse steps, Rima Hassan denounced the "repression" targeting, according to her, defenders of the Palestinian cause, and called to "stand together", "for democracy, for the rule of law and for freedom of expression".
Protesters gathered behind a banner proclaiming "defending Palestine is not a crime". Among them were several LFI deputies, including Jean-Luc Mélenchon, as well as the mayor of Saint-Denis, Bally Bagayoko.
More than 200 public figures also signed an opinion piece published on Sunday in L'Humanité to support the MEP. Her lawyer, Me Vincent Brengarth, denounced "the criminalisation of a pro-Palestinian voice" and described this trial as "major from the point of view of freedom of expression".
Rima Hassan is moreover summoned on 16 September in the context of two other proceedings, for "public apology for crime or misdemeanour" and "public and direct provocation not followed by effect to commit a crime or misdemeanour".
Source: Google News LU FR