Idriss Sihamedi, the founder of the NGO BarakaCity, dissolved at the end of 2020 by the government, was sentenced this Wednesday, September 28 by the Paris Court of Appeal to suspended prison sentences in two separate cases of harassment against journalists Zohra Bitan and Zineb El Rhazoui.
In the first case, the Court of Appeal increased the sentence pronounced at first instance by the Evry judicial court in March 2021 - ten months suspended prison sentence - against Idriss Sihamedi, whose real name is Driss Yemmou, by sentencing him to a one-year suspended prison sentence.
He will also have to pay a fine of 5,000 euros, including 2,500 euros suspended.
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“
The penalties were increased by the Court of Appeal, it is in particular because of the procedural casualness of Mr. Yemmou, who appealed but never appeared at the hearings
”, reacted to AFP Jean-Philippe Dom, lawyer for Zohra Bitan.
In the second case, the public prosecutor's office told AFP that the court had reversed the acquittal judgment issued on January 15, 2021 by the Paris Criminal Court, by declaring Idriss Sihamedi guilty of the offense of moral harassment against Zineb El Rhazoui.
The court sentenced him to a 12-month prison sentence suspended on probation for a period of two years with the obligation to repair the damage caused by the offense and to refrain from entering into any relationship with the victim, which he will have to pay the sum of 5,000 euros in compensation for his non-pecuniary damage, as well as procedural compensation.
“Effective deterioration of living conditions”
"
The Paris Court of Appeal has just overturned a judgment of the Paris court and sentenced Driss Sihamedi (12 months suspended sentence) for cyberbullying against Zineb El Rhazoui in 2020. The fight against Islamism continues, and we will not give up nothing!
“, welcomed on his twitter account the lawyer of the journalist and essayist, Me Thibault de Montbrial.
At first instance, the court recognized that the messages posted on Twitter by Idriss Sihamedi were indeed cyberbullying but ruled that there was "
no evidence of the actual deterioration of Ms. Zineb El Razhoui's living conditions
".
Idriss Sihamedi was prosecuted for having sent more than 80 tweets to Zineb El Rhazoui between September 23 and October 11, 2020. Some had revealed elements of the journalist's private life and were accompanied by the words #balancezinebelrhazoui or #zinebgate.
“To pour out his hatred on Muslim women”
Regarding Zohra Bitan, the founder of BarakaCity admitted to investigators that he had published 133 tweets implicating the RMC radio columnist.
He accused her of “
pouring out his hatred on Muslim women
”.
On Twitter, Idriss Sihamedi had challenged the columnist and her two sons about alleged criminal offenses, pushing social network users to ask them for explanations, via the hashtag #BalanceZohraBitan.
The defendant had also published a photograph of the family's mailbox as well as a stolen registered letter.
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Last February, Idriss Sihamedi had already been sentenced on appeal to a fine of 5,000 euros, including 2,000 euros suspended for racist insults against Zineb El Rhazoui.
The humanitarian association BarakaCity was dissolved at the end of October 2020 and its funds frozen, accused by the government
of "inciting hatred
" and "
justifying terrorist acts
" after the assassination of Professor Samuel Paty by a young Islamist.