French Union Activist Under Investigation for Alleged Terrorism Apology Tweet

"I received a summons from the Glat, a judicial police anti-terrorism unit, as part of an investigation for ’apology of terrorism’," Anasse Kazib announced in a post on X on April 8. He also said that another person from Révolution permanente was summoned "the same day for similar acts." Information confirmed by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office. "The national online hate crime unit of the Paris prosecutor’s office, on February 26, 2024, entrusted an investigation to the judicial police, on the grounds of public apology for an act of terrorism committed using an online public communication service," it said to 20 Minutes.

The origin of this summons is a tweet from the trade union activist dated October 7, the day of the spectacular and surprise attack by Hamas in Israel. Commenting on a video from a France 24 journalist, he writes: "75 years of apartheid, oppression and for months the scenes of aggression, repression even within the mosques, of families evicted from their homes have multiplied. Support for the Palestinian people who stand up to this bloodthirsty state that is Israel."

In a statement released on April 8, Anasse Kazib denounces the "summons" which "are part of the fierce repression that is affecting many political, trade union or associative activists for seven months, in order to criminalize any solidarity with the Palestinian people." According to him, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, "is waging war on those who denounce the genocide of the Palestinian people."

This summons has provoked reactions from the far left. "Where is democracy going when the refusal of a genocide and colonialism is fought as a form of terrorism? Does anti-terrorism have nothing else to do?" denounced Jean-Luc Mélenchon on X. Several Insoumis deputies and the head of the Lutte Ouvrière list for the European elections, Nathalie Arthaud, adopted the same stance.