Four men were sentenced this Wednesday in Paris to fines for provoking hatred and public insults against the singer Bilal Hassani who had announced to perform in concert in a former church in Metz in April 2023, before finally going there give up.
Five men tried
In total, five men were tried in this case in November before the 17th chamber of the Paris Criminal Court.
A blogger was found guilty of publicly provoking hatred or violence because of sexual orientation or gender identity, and sentenced to 60 day fines of 50 euros each, or 3,000 euros. Another, also prosecuted for aggravated public provocation, received a suspended fine of 1,500 and will have to complete a five-day citizenship course. Two other men, found guilty of public insult, were given suspended fines of 1,000 euros. The last defendant was acquitted for procedural reasons. The four convicted men will also have to pay between 400 and 800 euros to the artist in damages.
“The court understood very well that we were not within the framework of freedom of expression”
“We are very happy that guilt has been recognized, it is a very important symbol,” declared Me Clara Steg, lawyer for Bilal Hassani. “The court understood very well that we were not in the context of freedom of expression but in that of calls to hatred,” she added, stressing that this case had had a “repercussion very important psychological” on Bilal Hassani.
The alleged facts date back to April 2023, when the singer, claimed standard bearer of the LGBT community, was to perform in concert in an old church in Metz, the Saint-Pierre-Aux-Nonnains basilica, deconsecrated for 500 years.
Wave of hatred
This announcement sparked a wave of hatred, particularly on social networks. On Yet another had called the artist a “Moroccan tranny” and said he imagined him “getting stoned”. In a video posted on YouTube, another defendant called for “violent behavior”, according to the prosecution. Opposed to this concert, the Lorraine Catholique collective shouted “desecration”, in the middle of Holy Week, in a message on its blog. Supported by Civitas, he called for a prayer of reparation before the concert, in front of the old church.
Faced with these threats, Live Nation, producer of Bilal Hassani’s tour, decided to cancel the show scheduled for April 5, 2023. On April 28, the singer filed a complaint with the Metz prosecutor.
