The rebellious MP Ugo Bernalicis, who is carrying the bill for the LFI group, denounces the “instrumentalization” of this offense, created in 2014, to “repress political activists, community activists, journalists and even trade unionists”.
La France insoumise (LFI) tabled a bill in the Assembly on Tuesday, November 19, aimed at repealing the offense of glorifying terrorism, which, according to the left-wing movement, has accentuated “the instrumentalization of the anti-terrorist fight” against “freedom of expression”, attracting strong criticism from the right and from the presidential camp.
The text, tabled by the LFI deputy of the North Ugo Bernalicis and his LFI colleagues, wants to remove this offense created by a law of 2014, considering that in this matter “the law of July 29, 1881 dealing with facts relating to crimes of apology for crime, apology for war crime, apology for crime against humanity.”
The rebellious MP cites several opinions of experts and personalities to support his initiative: a 2019 report written by Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms in the fight against terrorism with of the UN, and an interview of October 8, 2024 with the former anti-terrorism judge Marc Trévidic, who denounces “a real abuse, a completely deviated from the law” because “after the attacks of November 13, 2015, under the influence of emotion, we began to see terrorism everywhere”.
“Suppression of freedom of expression”
“Which democracy can still keep its name when anti-terrorism methods are used to repress political activists, community activists, journalists or even trade unionists,” we can read in the explanatory memorandum.
“The means of the fight against terrorism in France have regularly been diverted from their purpose by the Governments in place to repress freedom of expression”, we can also read in this presentation.
Ugo Bernalicis cites the case of CGT leader of the North Jean-Paul Delescaut, sentenced to one year of suspended prison sentence at first instance – he appealed this decision – for “apology of terrorism” via comments made in a leaflet of support to the Palestinians.
“The horrors of the illegal occupation have accumulated. Since Saturday (October 7, 2023, date of the Hamas attack in Israel, Editor’s note) they have received the responses they provoked,” we could read in this leaflet.
Auditions of Rima Hassan and Mathilde Panot
The LFI MP also mentions his group president, Mathilde Panot, and LFI MEP Rima Hassan, who were questioned in April by the Parisian judicial police as part of investigations for “apology of terrorism”.
Mathilde Panot in particular was heard on the subject of the press release published by her group on October 7, 2023, in which the Hamas attack in Israel was described as “an armed offensive by Palestinian forces”, in a “context of intensification of the Israeli occupation policy” in the Palestinian territories.
“It’s difficult to be more despicable,” Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau wrote on X, reacting to this rebellious bill. “A proposed law of shame. One more infamy of the Rebels,” judged the president of the UDR group Éric Ciotti.
“A week after the commemorations of the attacks of November 13, LFI proposes to repeal the offense of apologizing for terrorism. Socialists, how can you claim to govern with them? Cynicism has its limits”, for its part was indignant Macronist MP David Amiel, like several others in his group.
Faced with criticism, Insoumis leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced “a new attack against LFI coming from the extreme right and slavishly taken up by the media-political officialdom”. “Rather than making films, read the text of the bill,” he said.
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