Another episode unfolds in the prolonged legal saga of Franco-Tunisian Mohamed Makni, who has been called to appear before the Grenoble Judicial Court on Thursday, January 11, 2024. The summons comes at the direction of the Public Prosecutor at the Grenoble Judicial Court. It is important to note that Makni, the Deputy Mayor of Echirolles, faces charges of “public apology for an act of terrorism” in association with a Facebook post he made after the attack on October 7, 2023, in Israel. In the post, he stated, “They are quick to qualify this as terrorism, which, in our eyes, is a clear act of resistance.”
On November 17, Makni appeared at the Grenoble High Court under the seal of prior recognition of guilt (CRPC) for “Apologia for terrorism.” The CRPC permits the perpetrator of the infraction to be judged quickly, with a deal offered on the the condition that they admit guilt. In Makni’s case, he was presented with a suspended prison sentence of 4 months, a fine of €600, and other penalties, including 3 years of ineligibility. Nevertheless, Makni flatly refused the CRPC, adhering to his defence stance: “My support for the Palestinian cause is unwavering; freedom of opinion and expression in the country of Voltaire is a right and a continuous fight.”
Politically Makni has already lost a lot in this battle: he was suspended from his post as Deputy Mayor and from the party in which he has been active for decades, the Socialist Party. Since then we have not heard his comrades go to the front to defend him, at least not publicly. Dead silence in the ranks of the left. Regardless, the argument assumed by Makni is not an oddity in his camp. Let us remember that the most well-known leader of the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, was the first to sound the charge against Israel and so far he ostensibly rejects to qualify the attack perpetrated by Hamas as terrorist…
Mélenchon is not the only one, France Insoumise MP Danièle Obono even went further by defining the Palestinian group as a resistance movement. So what’s the distinction with Makni?! Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin publicly declared that he would file a complaint against Ms. Obono for an “apology of terrorism.” It was last October 17, since then we have not heard anything about this affair. What about the two members of the CGT Nord, who had been brought to justice for the same offense? There too, a complete mystery.
The speed with which French justice handled Makni’s case is, to say the least, bizarre and questionable. The outcome of this case remains uncertain, but it is clear that there is a stark difference in treatment. Targeting figures like Mélenchon or Ms Obono poses a risk of amplifying the Palestinian cause, a surge that public authorities might stumble to contain. Yet, criminally pursuing an “easy target” to set an example is not acceptable in a country that upholds human rights. This is intolerable.
On October 29, the CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France) demanded, even before the final ruling was issued, that Mohamed Makni be definitively excluded from the Socialist Party. Given the weight of the CRIF in France, if that isn’t a lot of political and judicial pressure, I don’t know what it is. The leaders of the left, until now, are not running to defend the Franco-Tunisian. They have the meeting on January 11 to save face, to save what stays of the values and ideals of the Republic.
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