The Insoumises Mathilde Panot and Rima Hassan were heard on Tuesday in the premises of the Parisian judicial police as part of investigations for “apology of terrorism” after comments linked to the war in the Middle East, summons qualified as “censorship” by La France insoumise. “It went very well,” assured, smiling, the Franco-Palestinian activist Rima Hassan to the press after two hours of hearing.
Rima Hassan denounces “cut” interview extract
The candidate for the European elections, present in 7th place on the LFI list, explained that her summons followed an interview given in November to the media Le Crayon. In an extract, now deleted, we see the 32-year-old lawyer saying that it is “true” that Hamas is carrying out legitimate action.
The person concerned denounced a “cut extract” and misleading of her response and specified that the investigators had been able to view the entire interview. “The only logical result can be a classification without further action,” said his lawyer Me Vincent Brengarth, who hopes that such a decision will take place “as quickly as possible”. The procedure was transmitted to the public prosecutor’s office for assessment, indicated the Paris public prosecutor’s office requested by AFP.
For Mathilde Panot, a press release released after the Hamas attack singled out
According to a source close to the case, the procedure was also sent to the prosecution for assessment. “It is not only Mathilde Panot who was summoned today nor even France Insoumise, it is the entire political bench,” protested to AFP Me Jade Dousselin, her lawyer, castigating a prosecutor’s office which “establishes itself as arbiter of public debate and forgets its absolute role as prosecuting authority”.
A rally in support of LFI elected officials near the PJ headquarters
Before their summons on Tuesday morning, the two Insoumises went to a support rally, bringing together several hundred activists, near the headquarters of the PJ, in the 17th arrondissement. “In which democracy are anti-terrorism methods used against political activists, community activists or trade unionists?”, launched Mathilde Panot in front of her supporters who chanted “Resistance” and waved Palestinian, rebellious or South-South flags. Africans.
“I want to tell the pro-Israeli lobbyist organizations behind these complaints that they will not silence us,” said Rima Hassan, her shoulders covered with a keffiyeh. Many deputies from La France insoumise, from François Ruffin to Louis Boyard, were present. Other left-wing figures, such as the environmentalist MP Sandrine Rousseau or the former NPA candidate in the presidential election Olivier Besancenot, also responded to the call.
“Express their ideas”
Several voices from other political families defended freedom of expression. “Even if I am at the antipodes of La France insoumise, I will fight so that they can express their ideas,” declared the president of the Horizons group to the Assembly, Laurent Marcangeli. The Rebels, who describe the situation in Gaza as “genocide” and have made the defense of the Palestinian cause the main focus of their campaign, denounce the use of justice to silence pro-Palestinian voices.
No media diversion should distract from the question asked about the authoritarian drift assumed by the Macron regime. In France the president of the opposition group @MathildePanot is no longer protected by the parliamentary immunity in force since 1789. A candidate is…
— Jean-Luc Mélenchon (@JLMelenchon) April 30, 2024
“Let justice take its course in complete independence and it will do its job. Either it is an offense and she will say it, or it is not an offense and she will say it. No one is above the law,” said at the National Assembly Eric Dupond-Moretti to the address of the national coordinator of LFI Manuel Bompard, who accused the government of undermining “one by one the fundamentals of our rule of law”. “You like justice stuck against the wall by the violence of Mélenchon,” accused the Minister of Justice.
.@E_DupondM answer to @Ugobernalicis : “You have not voted for any of the additional means” of the justice mission, declares the Keeper of the Seals. #DirectAN#QAGpic.twitter.com/AiKNu8Zwpu
— LCP (@LCP) April 30, 2024
Since October 7, the number of reports and complaints for “apology of terrorism” has exploded: to the Paris prosecutor’s office, which handles the majority of these cases, there have been 386 referrals to date in connection with this conflict.