French lawyer Rafik Chekkat said that the charge of “terrorist propaganda” is being used in France to silence those who speak out about crimes committed in Gaza, reports Al Jazeera.
Chekkat is representing French political scientist Francois Burgat, who was detained on July 9 in Aix-en-Provence on charges of “terrorist propaganda”. His arrest followed a complaint by the European Jewish Organization over social media posts he shared in January last year about Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
The prosecutor’s office is calling for Burgat to be given an eight-month suspended prison sentence and fined 4,000 euros ($4,555).
Chekkat argued that Burgat’s case is part of a broader pattern of cracking down on criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza. He said the law regarding “terrorist propaganda” was originally designed to combat armed organisations’ online recruitment efforts but is now “being used to suppress dissenting voices on the issue of Palestine”.
“This is just the visible tip of the oppressive iceberg. That is to say, not only are publicly known figures involved here, but also many lesser-known individuals,” he said. “Sometimes activists and sometimes people not affiliated with any group – even ordinary individuals – have been questioned, prosecuted and some have even been convicted of ‘terrorist propaganda’,” he added.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
