Ten months in prison suspended for internet user who joked about Israeli baby’s death
A 37-year-old woman was sentenced to 10 months in prison in Paris on Wednesday for “excusing terrorism” after she joked in an online video about the death of an Israeli baby in connection with the attack on Hamas.
Through the video, which was published on his Instagram account at the beginning of November, Warda A. gave “a positive judgment” about “incidents of a terrorist nature” and their perpetrators, the criminal court said. The verdict corresponds to the verdict requested by the public prosecutor on November 22nd. “We will of course appeal this decision,” commented the defendant’s lawyer, Me Ilyacine Maallaoui. “And if we have to go to the Court of Cassation or even to European authorities, we will do so,” he added.
In the controversial video, the 30-year-old commented on information from an Israeli rescuer that Hamas members had placed a baby in an oven during the October 7 attack on Israeli soil. However, this report has not been confirmed by Israeli authorities. “Every time I come across the story of the baby being put in the oven, I wonder if salt, pepper (…) or thyme was added? If they reset it to what? “, Warda A. opened in her video, which has around nine thousand followers.
During her trial she admitted being “a little ironic” and “clumsy” but denied any intention of “provocation”. She said she didn’t believe a baby could be put in an oven and only wanted to denounce “propaganda” and “media manipulation.”
In addition to her prison sentence, which comes with a suspended sentence of twenty-four months, the defendant must complete a “citizenship course” to acquire the “values of the Republic,” the court ruled. She must also pay 1,000 euros in damages and 500 euros in procedural costs to each of the six associations that fight against racism and anti-Semitism and for which the court decided to form a civil party.