Youssef Atal, a player for the Algerian national football team and the French team Nice, was sentenced to an 8-month suspended prison sentence for publishing a video clip calling for a “black day for the Jews,” in the context of the war between… Islamic resistance movement (Hamas) and Israel.
The Criminal Court in Nice also imposed on Atal a fine of 45,000 euros on the charge of incitement to hatred based on religion, and forced him to publish the conviction issued against him at his own expense in the newspapers “Nice-Matin” and “Le Monde.”
The ruling came close to what the Public Prosecution requested, which wanted to convict the Algerian international defender to a 10-month suspended prison sentence and fine him 45,000 euros for publishing the 35-second video clip.
🔴The French judiciary issues its ruling in the case of Algerian international Youssef Atal
🔴Algerian international Youssef Atal was sentenced to 8 months in prison
🔴The French judiciary decides to fine Youssef Atal with a fine of 45 thousand euros pic.twitter.com/Uw8y3fqr64– El-djazair daily (@ElDjazair_Daily) January 3, 2024
Atal, who was called up to the Algerian national team squad for the Africa Cup of Nations finals scheduled in Ivory Coast between the 13th of this month and the 11th of next February, defended himself by saying that he did not watch the entire video clip and re-published it without knowing all of its contents.
Deputy Public Prosecutor Miggy Chotia said: “These are serious facts that should not be underestimated. Sharing a video means… highlighting the comments” that are written.
A message of peace
The 27-year-old player said during his appearance last month before the Criminal Court in Nice, “I thought it (the video) contained a message of peace to the people suffering in this war,” adding that he “shared this video without watching it until the end.”
After the French police arrested him in November, Atal was referred to the Public Prosecution Office before being summoned to the Criminal Court in Nice.
Pending the issuance of the ruling, the player was placed under judicial supervision on a bail of 80,000 euros, in addition to being prohibited from leaving French territory, except for reasons related to his activity as a professional football player.
Atal quickly deleted the post and apologized, but his club decided on October 18 to suspend him until further notice, while the French League’s disciplinary committee suspended him for 7 matches on October 26.
An investigation was opened on October 16 after the Public Prosecution was notified by the municipality of Nice, on charges of “defending terrorism” and “inciting hatred or violence based on a specific religion.”
On October 7, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people, according to the Israeli authorities, and holding, along with other Palestinian factions, about 240 hostages.
Since then, Israel has carried out a devastating bombardment on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 22,000 people, according to figures from the Gaza Ministry of Health.
