Mathilde Panot, one of the leaders of La France Insoumise Party (LFI), was summoned by the police for allegedly engaging in “apology of terrorism”.
The move on April 23 forms part of an ongoing investigation opened following a press release by the LFI published on October 7, the day of the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel.
Following that, LFI was accused of justifying the Hamas atrocities by denouncing the Islamist movement and Israeli colonisation at the same time.
Panot responded to the police action, saying: “We will not be silent. No summons, no intimidation of any kind will prevent us from protesting against the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.”
She also cautioned against what she described as the “serious misuse of the justice system to suppress political expression”.
This, Panot added, followed “a long series of other attempts to silence voices in favour of peace”.
She also referenced the recent cancellation of a conference featuring the LFI’s Jean-Luc Mélenchon and its European Parliament candidate Rima Hassan at the University of Lille by French authorities.
J’ai reçu ce jour une convocation pour être entendue dans le cadre d’une enquête pour « apologie du terrorisme ».
Nous ne nous tairons pas. Aucune convocation, aucune intimidation de quelque nature que ce soit ne nous empêchera de protester contre le génocide en cours contre le… pic.twitter.com/E3RCNJZOzx
— Mathilde Panot (@MathildePanot) April 23, 2024
At the time, the event was stopped by authorities citing concerns over public safety concerns, sparking a broader discussion on freedom of speech in France.
Manon Aubry, a prominent LFI figure and MEP, echoed Panot’s sentiments, expressing her worries regarding the state of French democracy.
“Our democracy is hurtling towards authoritarianism at an alarming pace,” she said.
“We must all react.”
Panot is not the first hard-left politician to be summoned for “apology of terrorism”; Hassan was also called in a few days ago by the police for the same reason.
The French hard-left La France Insoumise Party has been accused of anti-Semitism after a poster for an upcoming conference, during which its leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon is due to speak, depicted a logo portraying the extinction of Israel. https://t.co/fbOFHFZybl
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) April 16, 2024
Mélenchon has responded publicly to the developments, criticising what he saw as politically motivated complaints against LFI.
“Just as the bans on conferences and convictions of trade unionists have been carried out without too much solidarity, the far-right is advancing,” he said.
Mélenchon accused “pro-Netanyahu associations” of being behind the complaints, reigniting allegations of anti-Semitism within the French Left.
"I am anti-Semitic, I don’t give a damn!" — The daughter of two hard-left French MPs has been arrested for antisemitism and glorifying terrorism, and she appears to have no regrets. https://t.co/m91KCvkhUh
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) January 18, 2024
