LFI “gagged” by the majority? After Hassan, Mathilde Panot summoned for “apology of terrorism”

Mathilde Panot, president of the LFI group at the National Assembly, revealed this Tuesday, April 23, her summons in the context of a case for “apology of terrorism”.

The rebellious MP, Mathilde Panot, is summoned to be heard on Thursday May 2 by the Directorate of the Paris Judicial Police as part of an investigation for “apology of terrorism”. This Tuesday, April 23, she released a press release attesting to the summons she has just received. The elected official retorted that it is not such accusations that will make her “shut up”. “No summons, no intimidation of any nature whatsoever will prevent us from protesting against the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people,” she also declared on X. She even denounces an attack on “freedom of opinion and democracy.

Mathilde Panot also points out the foundations of this summons which refers to the official communication from the LFI-Nupes parliamentary group dating from October 7, the day of the Hamas attacks against Israel. The LFI group had shared a text which caused controversy because it mentioned a “context of intensification of the Israeli occupation policy in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem”. “I solemnly warn of this serious exploitation of justice aimed at gagging political expressions,” she wrote, directly attacking the “Macronist regime”.

LFI silenced?

The MP puts this summons into context: she insists on “attempts to silence voices in favor of peace”, referring in particular to the cancellation of two conferences by Jean-Luc Mélenchon and to the summons for “apology of terrorism” by Rima Hassan. A double ban has, in fact, affected the conference on Palestine by Jean-Luc Mélenchon in Lille on the grounds of “disturbing public order”. The former presidential candidate had even called for sanctioning the prefect of the North for “abuse of power”, according to BFMTV.

The latter also reacted on X to the summons of Mathilde Panot. “The police without hesitation summon up a list that is said to be very long. The entire anti-genocide political and intellectual sphere is threatened. An unprecedented event in the history of our democracy. We now know who threatens freedom of conscience and why: protecting a genocide!”, he denounced. He also assures that it is associations “friends of Nethanyahu” which have filed a complaint against the president of the parliamentary group. Manuel Bompard mentioned in a publication on the involvement of the European Jewish Organization.

Rima Hassan, candidate for the European elections in seventh position on the LFI list, is, for her part, summoned on April 30 for “apology of terrorism”. She, like Mathilde Panot, denounced an obstacle to “freedom of expression”. However, the lawyer had revealed to theAFP to be “serene”: “I believe that I have nothing to reproach myself for, having always expressed myself in a critical manner both towards Hamas and its terrorist mode of operation but also towards Israel. And I am very combative because I believe that these are political maneuvers.” A summons which had also challenged Mathilde Panot.