Stars and Stripes – French court sentences 11 people for threatening teenager who criticized Islam

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The teenager identifying herself online as Mila leaves a courtroom with her lawyer Richard Malka in Paris on June 3, 2021. A French court on Wednesday July 7 convicted 11 of 13 people in a landmark cyberbullying case for their harassment and threats against the teenager who criticized Islam in online publications. (François Mori / AP)

PARIS A French court on Wednesday convicted 11 of 13 people accused of harassing and threatening a teenage girl who criticized Islam in online publications and ended up changing schools and receiving police protection to keep her safe .

The verdict was the first of its kind since France created a new Paris court in January to prosecute online crimes, including harassment and discrimination.

The court sentenced the defendants to suspended prison terms of four to six months and fined them approximately $ 1,770 each.

The teenager at the center of the historic cyberbullying case, who has only been publicly identified by her first name, Mila, said last month that she felt as if she had been “sentenced to death.”

Speaking after the verdict, she said all victims should join the fight against online abuse and stalkers should be denied access to social media networks.

“I expected worse and honestly we have won and will win again because what I want is united, we will never give up. We will continue to fight,” said Mila.

Mila, who describes herself as an atheist, was 16 when she started posting videos on Instagram and later on TikTok criticizing Islam and the Quran. Now 18, she said “I don’t like any religion, not just Islam”.

“What I want is that those (who harass) are considered a scourge and that it is forbidden to access social networks (,) … suicide,” she said. “And I never want the victims to be blamed again.”

Her lawyer, Richard Malka, said Mila had received some 100,000 threat messages, including death threats, rape threats, misogynistic messages and hate messages about her sexual orientation.

Mila left one high school, then another. She is now monitored daily by the police for her safety.

“Social networks are the streets. When you meet someone in the street, you do not insult them, do not threaten them, do not make fun of them”, declared the president of the court, Michel. Humbert. “What you don’t do on the streets, don’t do on social media.”

The trial raised uncomfortable questions about freedom of expression, the freedom to criticize a religion and respect for millions of Muslims in France. But the trial focused on cyberbullying.

The 13 defendants from across France came from diverse backgrounds and religions and represented just a handful of all those who have pursued Mila with comments online. The others could not be found.

Juan Branco, the lawyer for one of the defendants, denounced the premises of the trial.

“Symbolic lawsuits in which you try to use one person to send a message to the rest of society are very dangerous,” Branco said. He declared that his client, identified only as Jordan L., “is not a fanatic, he is someone who respects beliefs, (but) who does not like this climate where part of the French population is systematically attacked “.

He said his client “was revolting against this without participating in anything more important and without even sending a direct message to Mila in particular.”

Online harassment, threats and hate speech have increased since the creation in 2018 of a law criminalizing such acts. Police counted 2,128 such offenses in 2019 and 2,848 last year, according to French Minister of Citizenship Marlene Schiappa.

“The whole country must condemn the attackers and stop blaming the victims,” ​​Schiappa said in a statement after Wednesday’s verdict.

One of the 13 tried was acquitted because his message – “Blow it up” – was intended for Mila’s Twitter account, and not for the young woman. The court dropped the case against another defendant for flawed procedures.

Amid growing efforts by France to prosecute and prevent online abuse, another French court on Tuesday ordered Twitter to share details within two months of its proceedings to prevent users from inciting violence or abuse. racial hatred or to commit other offenses.

The ruling stems from a civil lawsuit brought by groups that fight racism and anti-LGBT discrimination. The groups argued that Twitter was not doing enough to moderate and remove content that violates French hate speech or other laws. The social network’s lawyer in the case, Karim Beylouni, said on Wednesday that the company decided to appeal.

Meanwhile, Paris prosecutors are investigating racist messages targeting footballer Kylian Mbappe after a failed kick wiped out France, which won the 2018 World Cup, from the European Football Championship week. last.

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Vaux-Montagny reported from Lyon. Jeffrey Schaeffer in Paris contributed.

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