A more than expected verdict. Six men and women who had been tried in April for hate messages and calls for murder against Mila, a young woman who had been harassed online since her polemical video criticising Islam in 2020, were sentenced on Tuesday May 24 by the Paris Criminal Court to prison terms ranging from three months suspended to four months. Among them were three mothers who had been investigated last September by gendarmes from the Central Office for Combating Crimes against Humanity, Genocide and War Crimes (OCLCH), Le Parisien reported.
Melinda D., mother of two children, who had already been convicted several times for theft, fraud and driving without a licence, was only convicted for threatening to kill. The other five defendants were convicted of felonious stalking.
In addition to the prison sentences, which include a 30,000 euro fine for online harassment and a 45,000 euro fine for death threats, all defendants must pay Mila 3,000 euros for her non-material damage. They will also be deprived of the right to stand for election for one year.
“The sentencing of the six defendants was necessary,” reacted Mila’s lawyer Richard Malka, stressing that “just a few words on a social network can have serious consequences for the perpetrators”. “I have no satisfaction that these young people were convicted. My only satisfaction in this case would be that Mila can live a normal life again … and that is not the case,” the lawyer continued, referring to the daily life of the young woman, who has been under police protection since 2020.
