Summoned by police for ‘apology for terrorism’, LFI Mathilde Pano calls for rally in Paris

She denounces the “attempt at censorship.” La France insoumise (LFI) MP leader Mathilde Panaud has called for a free speech rally on Tuesday in Porte de Clichy in Paris, when she and European candidate Rima Hassan will be questioned by police over “terrorism apologies”.

“This challenge follows an attempt at censorship by this government, since at the height of the election campaign the conferences of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Rima Hassan were canceled six times,” the rebel MP told the RTL/Le Figaro/M 6 Grand Jury.

“Censorship is incompatible with democracy and I want you to realize what is happening,” she said when she was called by police to explain a press release issued by her parliamentary group on October 7, the day the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas attacked to Israel.

This text has caused controversy because it, in particular, draws a parallel between the Hamas attack, described as an “armed offensive by Palestinian forces,” and the “intensification of Israeli occupation policies” in the Palestinian territories.

Not necessarily persecuted

The rally, organized by LFI, will take place on Tuesday at 8:30 am, when Rima Hassan and Matilda Panot will be called to the police. A challenge that does not predispose a case to be filed against them.

Franco-Palestinian activist Rima Hassan, who finished seventh on Manon Aubry’s LFI list in the June 9 European elections, was summoned for comments made between November 5 and December 1. Since her inclusion on Reema’s list of rebels, Hassan has been criticized, in particular for saying in an interview with Le Crayon that it was “true” that Hamas was carrying out legitimate activities.