Four months after being summoned by the police for “apology for terrorism”, Rima Hassan is once again the target of a report to the Paris prosecutor’s office, according to documents sent to AFP on Thursday, August 22. Around fifty Renaissance MPs are behind the appeal. They denounce the presence of the rebellious MEP at a demonstration described as being “pro-Hamas” – which she denies.
The facts date back to August 16 and were revealed by the PointWhile in Amman, Jordan, Rima Hassan participated alongside the journalist and former rebel candidate Taha Bouhafs in a demonstration in which “dozens of placards” were allegedly brandished in homage to the leader of Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, killed on July 31 in Tehran (Iran).
Accused of spreading “hatred of Jews”
A “provocative” attitude castigated by the spokesperson for the resigning government, Prisca Thévenot, who joined the report to the prosecutor. Like her colleagues who denounce facts likely to fall within the framework of the offense of “apology for terrorism”, the elected representative of Hauts-de-Seine reproaches Rima Hassan for her “barely concealed support for the terrorist organization Hamas” during an “Islamist and pro-terrorist demonstration”.
In addition, the report to the Paris prosecutor’s office was accompanied by a joint letter sent to the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. In it, the Macronist deputies demanded that the parliamentary immunity of the rebellious elected official be lifted “if proceedings were to be brought against her”. Rima Hassan “has been participating without any limits, for several months, in the dissemination of hatred of Jews in Europe, in particular taking up several anti-Jewish conspiracy theories and denying the State of Israel the right to exist”, they argued.
A “usual” demonstration
Accusations dismissed out of hand by the person concerned. “These are maneuvers that are based on nothing,” the Franco-Palestinian activist and lawyer commented to AFP. And Rima Hassan assured that her detractors are “known for their position of support for a genocidal regime that I fight and that I will continue to fight with or without a mandate as an MEP.”
According to the rebel, the rally she participated in was a “usual” demonstration organized every Friday in Amman to support the Palestinian cause, and “is in no way a pro-Hamas demonstration or in homage to Hamas leaders.” And to defend herself: “In all the demonstrations in the region, whether in Lebanon or Jordan, there are demonstrators who can show their support for Hamas, but I cannot be responsible for that.”