Rima Hassan denounces 'political and judicial harassment' over Israel criticism
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Pauline Ertel
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Thu, 07/02/2026 - 12:36
Ahead of her trial for 'terrorism apology', Rima Hassan tells MEE of the sweeping surveillance measures and pressure she says are used to silence her solidarity with Palestine
MEP Rima Hassan during a press conference with her lawyer following a hearing at the regional headquarters of the judiciary police in Paris, France, on 3 April 2026 (Blanca Cruz/AFP)
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Since her election in 2024, Rima Hassan has become the "enemy within" in the eyes of the French political establishment, facing a barrage of judicial, media and political pressure as an outspoken advocate of the Palestinian cause.
The French-Palestinian member of the European Parliament will be tried on Tuesday for "apology for terrorism", a French legal infraction which criminalises forms of expression said to support acts of terrorism or paint them in a positive light.
Speaking to Middle East Eye on the eve of her trial, the MEP says this is all part of a concerted campaign against her for speaking up for Palestine.
The trial is the latest attempt to use the courts against Hassan for criticism of Israel's occupation and genocide. In two years, 16 judicial proceedings have been initiated against her. Thirteen of these cases have already been dismissed without further action.
Hassan told MEE she had been subject to intense judicial and political pressure in recent months, describing disproportionate investigative measures used against her, including the violation of her parliamentary immunity, retroactive surveillance, as well as the dissemination of false information following her detention in April.
Hassan told MEE that the "judicial harrasment" she has faced shows "how far some are willing to go to silence voices that denounce the suffering of the Palestinian people".
'This way of proceeding is part of a political climate in which Palestinians, or people perceived as such, are too often regarded as suspects before they are regarded as citizens'
- Rima Hassan, French-Palestinian MEP
On 2 April, Hassan, an MEP from the The Left group, was taken into police custody after posting a quote on X by Japanese militant Kozo Okamoto, who was convicted for his involvement in the Lod airport attack which killed 26 people in Israel in 1972.
"Kozo Okamoto: I gave my youth to the Palestinian cause. As long as there is oppression, resistance will not only be a right, but a duty," Hassan's post read, accompanied by Japanese and Palestinian flags.
A press release by Hassan's team ahead of the trial says the quote was "referring to a principle that lies at the heart of international law: the right of peoples to resist colonisation and the occupation of their territory by a foreign army".
Hassan deleted the post to avoid any possible misunderstanding, the press release says.
The post was reported to the prosecutor's office by far-right National Rally MP Matthias Renault, the French interior minister, the European Jewish Organisation (OJE), and the League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (Licra).
The prosecutions have been initiated by the public prosecutor's office, which operates under the authority of the executive branch.
Her French party, the left-wing La France Insoumise (France Unbowed, LFI), including its chairman and presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, have spoken out in support of Hassan, arguing that her detention was part of a programme to silence pro-Palestinian voices.
'Disproportionate measures
Hassan was held in police custody for more than 13 hours on 2 April despite her parliamentary immunity, Hassan's team said.
An MEP's parliamentary immunity is intended to protect freedom of expression and the independent mandate of an elected representative from external pressures, particularly those exerted by states.
Hassan was elected to the European Parliament on 9 June 2024, representing LFI, making her the first French national of Palestinian heritage to serve as a member of the European Parliament.
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"Since her election, Rima Hassan has been the target of sustained political and judicial harassment aimed at silencing and discrediting a political opponent," Hassan's team said.
During her police custody in April, Hassan was subjected to especially intrusive questioning about her identity, origins and religion "that had no connection whatsoever to the alleged facts", Hassan told MEE.
"This way of proceeding is part of a political climate in which Palestinians, or people perceived as such, are too often regarded as suspects before they are regarded as citizens," she said.
"This reflex, fuelled by Islamophobia and anti-Palestinian racism, constructs the dangerous figure of the 'enemy within'," she added.
Through her lawyer and French investigative media outlet Mediapart, Hassan learnt that investigative resources of what she describes as "a completely disproportionate scale" had been mobilised against her.
The measures included placing Hassan’s phone under retroactive surveillance at the start of the year and, between January and early March, reconstructing her movements by requesting travel data from the French railway companies SNCF and Thalys. Europol and Air France were also requested to disclose the full record of her travel.
"These methods are usually presented as tools intended to combat the most serious forms of crime," Hassan told MEE.
Hassan has initiated several legal and institutional proceedings to challenge the alleged abuses and hopes for an aquittal on 7 July.
"The facts alleged against me do not justify this procedure," she told MEE, "but beyond my personal situation, I hope this trial will lead to a collective awakening."
'Disinformation operation'
During Hassan's detention, false information alleging the possession of narcotics was leaked to the press, violating the confidentiality of the investigation.
According to French media outlet Le Canard Enchaine, the French spokesperson for the ministry of justice, Sacha Straub-Kahn, was directly involved in leaking and disseminating the false allegations to the press during Hassan's detention.
'The objective was clear: to divert the political debate, tarnish my reputation, and plant suspicion in public opinion'
- Rima Hassan
Upon release from custody, Hassan reiterated in a post that she had CBD on her person for medical purposes.
For Hassan, the allegations amount to what she describes as a "genuine disinformation operation".
"Unverified information was circulated without respect for the most basic rules of journalism: checking facts, cross-checking sources, and guaranteeing the right to respond," she told MEE.
"The objective was clear: to divert the political debate, tarnish my reputation, and plant suspicion in public opinion. When rumor replaces facts, democracy itself is weakened."
Hassan filed a complaint after the leaks, denouncing a breach of confidentiality in the investigation. The Paris prosecutor's office announced the opening of an investigation for breach of confidentiality, "given the timing and level of detail of the information published in the media during her detention and before any legal disclosure".
The justice minister announced that he had referred the leaks to the General Inspectorate of Justice, while Straub-Kahn filed a defamation lawsuit.
'Inversion of responsibility'
The case against Hassan is indicative of a wider political offensive aimed at delegitimising pro-Palestinian solidarity.
French police has conducted numerous high profile investigations of public figures who have expressed solidarity with Palestine over recent years, particularly within LFI's ranks.
In 2024, left-wing politician Anasse Kazib was summoned by police as part of an anti-terrorism investigation following tweets that expressed solidarity with Palestine, and French LFI MP Sebastian Delogu was suspended for 15 days and had his pay halved for two months after waving a Palestinian flag in the National Assembly.
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Mathilde Panot, LFI's leader in the lower house, was summoned by police and later dismissed for investigation following the party's 7 October press release due to concerns that the statement constituted "terrorism apology".
Ahead of France's municipal elections earlier this year, three mayoral candidates from LFI who have been vocal in their support for Palestine were the target of a smear campaign allegedly carried out by Israeli firm BlackCore.
According to figures from the Ministry of Justice, the number of prosecutions for "apology for terrorism" has tripled between October 2023 and November 2024, compared with the period between January and September 2023.
Marc Trevidic, who was an investigating judge at the anti-terrorism unit in Paris for nine years, has denounced what has been labelled a "misuse of anti-terrorism legislation" by specialist magistrates.
"We are witnessing a genuine abuse, a completely perverted use of the law," Trevidic said in a 2024 interview with TRT France.
Hassan's legal team sees the trial as an example for the "inversion of responsibility that is taking place: Those who denounce a genocide are being prosecuted, rather than those responsible of committing it".
"This judicialisation of public debate seeks to make any criticism of the policies pursued by the Israeli government politically costly. It is a way of silencing a political voice rather than responding to it democratically," Hassan told MEE.
"All these measures follow the same logic: creating a climate of intimidation in order to discourage civic engagement," she added.
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