the ban on a conference by Rima Hassan deemed “illegal”

The Strasbourg administrative court ruled on Tuesday “illegal” the ban, decided by the president of the city's university, of a conference planned in the establishment in the presence of LFI MEP Rima Hassan. The judges considered that the refusal of the president of the university to authorize the holding of this conference “infringed on freedom of expression”the court said in a statement. The conference, entitled “European Union and international relations, in the presence of MEP Rima Hassan”was to be held on Thursday.

The University of Strasbourg banned it on November 20, citing a risk of disturbing public order in the event of the arrival of the Franco-Palestinian jurist, elected in June to the European Parliament on the list of La France insoumise (LFI). ). “It’s a subject of censorship”launched during the hearing Rima Hassan, a keffiyeh on her right shoulder, asking the court to recognize that there is “a political context, a climate of censorship, in other countries, in other universities”.

“EU complicity in the genocide in Gaza”

Olivier Maetz, who defended the management of the University, assured that the ban on the conference was not linked “to the personality of Ms. Hassan nor to her ideas” but arose from the fact that the organizers “refused to comply with university regulations” in terms of security. He argued that the organizer of the event, the Palestine Unistras Committee, had not “of legal existence” and had not provided in his room reservation request “guarantees” regarding the maintenance of order, nor specified the number of participants expected.

On Instagram, the title of the conference, “Complicity of the European Union in the genocide in Gaza” also differs from that which was submitted to the campus management, the lawyer emphasized. The MEP's Strasbourg lawyer, Florence Dole, rejected these arguments, believing that “the difficulty is the personality of Ms. Rima Hassan, whom the university does not want to receive on its premises”.

The Paris administrative court ordered Sciences Po on Friday to allow a conference by Rima Hassan to take place, banned by the school also in the name of the risk of disturbing public order. Sciences Po plans to appeal. The MEP, who makes multiple controversial statements about Israel, is the target of an investigation for “apology of terrorism” after having estimated after October 7 in an interview that it is “TRUE” that the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas is taking legitimate action. A truncated interview extract according to her.