Former French Imam Sentenced to Prison for Terrorism Apology and Anti-Semitism

On Thursday, the Nîmes Court of Appeal sentenced the former imam of Beaucaire to 12 months in prison with probation for 2 years for apology for terrorism and incitement to hatred against Jews. A judge for the enforcement of sentences will have to follow Yassin El Himar throughout this period. He is required to inform the justice system of any change of address and any travel abroad, to limit his presence at the Beaucaire mosque and not to serve as an imam for 1 year. In case of non-compliance with his obligations, he will then have to serve the sentence handed down. In a statement to his lawyer France Bleu, Saphia Foughar intends to appeal to the Court of Cassation. She has five days to file an appeal.

Last November, the Nîmes Criminal Court had sentenced the former imam of Beaucaire to 8 months in prison with probation. Dissatisfied, the prosecution appealed. He is accused of having made, on Facebook, remarks inciting hatred towards Jews and making an apology for terrorism, during a period of tension between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.

Corine Serfati, the lawyer for the National Bureau of Vigilance against Anti-Semitism, an association that has joined the case as a civil party, is satisfied with the new conviction. "This type of publication has been considered, by justice and rightly so, as a particularly serious vector of anti-Semitic hatred. What is even more serious is that these messages have been relayed by a religious man, a mosque leader who has a responsibility towards his faithful," she reacted.