In April 2023, Bilal Hassani decided to cancel a concert in a deconsecrated church in Metz after receiving numerous homophobic threats and calls for violence shared online.
Five people were referred this Wednesday, November 13 to the Paris judicial court after the wave of cyberharassment against singer Bilal Hassani after the cancellation of a concert in a deconsecrated church in Metz (Moselle). They are being tried for “provoking hatred” and “insulting because of sexual orientation”, BFMTV.com learned from the Paris prosecutor’s office.
It all started with a simple concert. In April 2023, Bilal Hassani was scheduled to perform in a deconsecrated church in Metz. A concert that the singer decided to cancel after receiving numerous homophobic threats and calls for violence shared online.
“We wanted to offer shows in atypical, beautiful, cool places […] Some extremists tried to divert the thing a little and it went awry,” the artist lamented on Quotidien.
Bilal Hassani had also announced that he was filing a complaint for “incitement to hatred and violence” and for “discrimination” after the cancellation of his concert in this desecrated church.
“We filed a complaint against Aurora, a far-right movement, against Civitas and against Discussion natio Metz. It was the latter who made threatening remarks and wanted to carry out violent actions on the day of the concert,” detailed Amina Frühauf , the manager and mother of the artist on the set of “Quotidien”.
An investigation was opened by the national center for the fight against online hatred and entrusted to the Central Office for the Fight against Crimes Against Humanity and Online Hate on June 17, 2023.
