French prosecutors have requested a 10-month suspended prison sentence and a two-year ban on holding public office for Member of the European Parliament Rima Hassan, following allegations of glorifying terrorism in connection with a deleted social media post.
The case, heard before the Paris criminal court on October 19-20, centres on an online post published on March 26, 2026, on X.
In the now-deleted message, Hassan quoted Kozo Okamoto, a former militant of the Japanese Red Army who took part in the May 30, 1972 Lod Airport (now Ben Gurion Airport) attack near Tel Aviv, which claimed 26 lives and injured dozens more.
The line she reproduced held that, for as long as oppression lasted, resistance was not merely a right but a duty. Okamoto was the only one of the three gunmen to survive the attack.
The prosecution argued that the posting amounted to the glorification or justification of terrorism under French law. The offence carries a maximum of seven years in prison and a €100,000 fine.
According to the Paris prosecutor’s office, the wording presented an uncritical depiction of Okamoto that served to trivialise the attack and portray its perpetrator in a heroic light.
The prosecutor told the court that the Palestinian cause could not be used as a shield against criminal liability. She said the post had been seen more than 250,000 times in 18 hours, on an account with some 420,000 followers.
The case reached the courts after referrals from the French interior minister and from two groups, the European Jewish Organisation (OJE) and the International League against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra).
When Hassan was taken into custody regarding the social media post on April 2, police reported the designer drug 3-MMC was found on her.
Hassan consistently denied the allegations, stating she was only carrying legally purchased cannabidiol (CBD) for medical reasons.
She claimed that any synthetic traces must have been accidentally mixed into the product.
The Paris public prosecutor’s office officially dropped the drug probe on April 9, stating the preliminary investigation did not reveal a substantiated offence.
Laboratory analysis found that the item first described as 3-MMC contained 82.1 per cent CBD and a delta-9 THC trace below the legal threshold.
Addressing defence assertions of political targeting, the prosecutor rejected claims of political motivation, maintaining that the alleged infraction was flagrant and strictly concerned legal compliance.
Hassan, 34, a French-Palestinian jurist and pro-Palestinian activist elected to the European Parliament in June 2024 for the left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI) party, denied wrongdoing.
Her defence team argued that the proceedings constituted an attempt to gag a sitting parliamentarian and undermine the independence of her political mandate.
It also disputed the regularity of the investigation and invoked her parliamentary immunity, arguing that the post formed part of her political activity on Palestine. The defence asked for an acquittal.
Hassan herself described the charges as an effort to silence an opposition voice. She exercised her right to silence during the hearing, though she told the court it was unacceptable to rejoice at the deaths of civilians.
If the court adopts the prosecution’s sentencing request, the two-year disqualification from holding elective office could carry implications for Hassan’s seat in the European Parliament and any future domestic electoral bids.
The court has concluded hearings, with a formal verdict expected on November 30.
Hassan has a long track record of making controversial remarks and accusing Israel of genocide.
In February 2025 she stated on Sud Radio that “Hamas has [undertaken] legitimate action from the perspective of international law”.
In June 2025 she was detained and deported by Israel after taking part in a Gaza-bound flotilla.
On October 5 she was seen throwing the European and Israeli flags to the ground at a European Parliament exhibition in Strasbourg marking the October 7 massacres.
She is currently under an official internal disciplinary investigation by the European Parliament, which could end in a reprimand, temporary suspension from parliamentary business or the loss of her daily allowance for up to 60 days.
