Hacker Faces Jail Time for ’Free Palestine’ Stunt at Paris University

The events took place on October 7, 2024. The student, from his home, took advantage of a security flaw in the university’s intranet to replace his classmates’ profile pictures with an image of a Palestinian flag with a clenched fist and the slogan "Free Palestine".

The main debate during the hearing focused on the qualification of the facts. Motawassim L. was prosecuted for "fraudulent modification of data from an automated processing system", as the investigators had not established any anti-Semitic character. The lawyers for the civil parties described this choice as "scandalous" and asked for the addition of the aggravating circumstance of an act committed "on the grounds of belonging to a religion".

At the time of the events, the president of the university, El-Mouhoub Mouhoud, had been alerted by the Union of Jewish Students of Dauphine (UEJD) and had referred the matter to the prosecutor. He had then stated that the intervention of the IT services had "undoubtedly made it possible to limit the manipulation of images" and recalled the position of the institution: "We remain more than ever intransigent against any criminal act or statement that could be likened to racism, anti-Semitism [...]. "

During his trial, the defendant denied any hateful intent, describing an "rather political" action targeting the UEJD. He acknowledged that "there would have been other more peaceful ways to do it", but said he refused "to be accused of anti-Semitism". The maximum penalty provided by law for this offense is five years in prison and a fine of 150,000 euros.