LONDON: French MEP Rima Hassan was released from custody on Thursday night after being held for several hours on suspicion of “apology for terrorism” over a social media post about a 1970s attack on an Israeli airport. She will stand trial on July 7.
Hassan, 33, a member of the left-wing La France Insoumise party and a vocal pro-Palestinian activist of Palestinian descent, was arrested after posting — and later deleting — a comment on X in late March quoting Kozo Okamoto, one of the perpetrators of the 1972 Japanese Red Army attack on Lod Airport in Tel Aviv, which killed 26 people.
The post read: “Kozo Okamoto: I gave my youth to the Palestinian cause. As long as there is oppression, resistance will not only be a right, but a duty.”
The Paris prosecutor’s office said that the post could be construed as showing support for terrorism, and that Hassan had been summoned “to appear before the criminal court on July 7, 2026, to be tried on charges of advocating terrorism committed online.”
The offense carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison and a fine of up to €100,000 ($115,290).
Complaints against the post were filed by the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism and the European Jewish Organization.
La France Insoumise, led by far-left politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, condemned the arrest as politically motivated, calling the proceedings against their colleague “unbearable.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez dismissed the accusation. “There are rules to be respected. Apologising for terrorism is a very serious offense,” he said on TV station BFMTV.
Following her release, Hassan and her lawyer Vincent Brengarth said in separate posts on X that they would address the case at a press conference on Friday afternoon.
Hassan was questioned again by judicial police in Paris on Friday as part of a separate investigation.
The prosecutor’s office confirmed that she is the subject of six other investigations into possible hate speech while 16 others have been shelved.
Born in Syria, Hassan has been a prominent figure in European pro-Palestinian activism.
She was detained by Israeli security forces last year after they intercepted a Gaza-bound aid vessel she was aboard, part of a flotilla attempting to break the blockade on the territory.
She and three other French nationals were subsequently expelled from Israel.
With agencies
