French police detained Rima Hassan, a member of the European Parliament from France, on suspicion of “advocating for terrorism” after she quoted one of many perpetrators of a 1972 terror assault on an Israeli airport in a social media publish.
Hassan, 33, was detained for a number of hours on Thursday by French authorities over a March 26 publish during which she quoted a person convicted of taking part within the 1972 terror assault on Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, which killed 26 individuals.
The publish, which Hassan later deleted, included Japanese and Palestinian flags in addition to a quote from Kozo Okamoto, a member of the fear group, which learn, “I devoted my youth to the Palestinian trigger. So long as there may be oppression, resistance is not going to solely be a proper, however an obligation.”
The Paris prosecutor’s workplace mentioned it had launched Hassan and given her a court docket date of July 7 “to be tried on costs of advocating terrorism dedicated on-line.” If convicted, Hassan may resist a seven-year jail time period and a advantageous of up to 100,000 euros, or $115,290.
Hassan, who was elected to the European Parliament in 2024 for the French far-left get together France Unbowed, has beforehand mentioned that “Hamas’s actions are authentic from a global perspective” and argued that Franco-Palestinians “should be capable of be a part of the Palestinian armed resistance.” She additionally participated within the Gaza-bound flotilla protesting Israel’s blockade of the enclave final June, and, final month, was denied entry into Canada forward of a scheduled convention look.
The arrest got here after two France-based antisemitism watchdogs, the Worldwide League Towards Racism and Antisemitism and the European Jewish Group, lodged complaints over Hassan’s publish.
“Statements presenting the acts dedicated by terrorists in a good mild represent an apology for terrorism,” the European Jewish Group wrote in a publish on X on Thursday. “It’s on this foundation that the OJE has filed a grievance towards RH for the statements made on X and for which she seems to have been positioned in police custody in the present day.”
The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned that Hassan is below investigation in six extra circumstances, and that 16 different circumstances involving alleged on-line hate speech have been closed. Police are additionally individually investigating “substances resembling CBD and 3-MMC,” unlawful medicine, that have been discovered amongst her belongings.
In a publish on X Friday, Hassan, who was born in Syria in a Palestinian refugee camp and has made pro-Palestinian advocacy and fierce criticism of Israel a trademark of her political profession, mentioned that she was the “goal of political, judicial, and media harassment.”
“This custody listening to was adopted by a fifth summons this Friday, properly illustrating the politico-judicial harassment that the Palestinian trigger is enduring after greater than 2 years of genocide and inaction on the a part of our authorities,” wrote Hassan in a subsequent publish.
French Inside Minister Laurent Nuñez dismissed claims that the case towards Hassan was politically motivated, saying in a tv look, “Nobody is above the regulation, particularly on topics as critical because the glorification of terrorism.”
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