They are between 23 and 69 years old and live around Lille, Tours, Orléans, in the Lyon region and in Nancy. Five men were tried on Wednesday November 13 by the Paris criminal court for their involvement in the cyberharassment campaign targeting singer Bilal Hassani. The young artist, icon of the LGBT community, had to cancel his concert planned in the Saint-Pierre aux Nonnains basilica in Metz (Moselle), in April 2023, because of threats made on social networks.
The investigation, first opened in Metz then transmitted to the national center for the fight against online hatred, made it possible to identify five people who had all relayed homophobic insults, calls for hatred and violence, mainly on the X network (formerly Twitter) but also on forums or via a YouTube channel. They were respectively judged either for “public incitement to hatred or violence” or for “public insults”, all aggravated by reason of sexual orientation or gender, but also for “public provocation to commit an attack on life”. Only two of them, the youngest and aged around twenty, appeared in court this Wednesday.
Fines, citizenship training and prison sentences
Four complaints were filed: by the artist, two by associations fighting against homophobia and another by the Metz company organizing the concert. The Human Rights League has also been added to this list of civil parties.
At the end of the hearing, the Paris Criminal Court requested 1,500 euros fine for the two men accused of public insults, aged 24 for one and 69 for the other. For the two defendants tried for provoking hatred and violence, the prosecutor requested prison sentences of four and six months firm, because of their criminal records. For the 23-year-old defendant, tried for “public provocation to commit crimes against life”, three months suspended prison sentence accompanied by a citizenship course.
The court’s decision is expected on January 15, 2025.
