Algerian footballer Youcef Atal convicted in France over post on Gaza war
Al Jazeera
A Nice court handed Atal a suspended sentence for reposting a video the 27-year-old said he did not fully watch before sharing.
A French court has given Algerian football player Youcef Atal an eight-month suspended prison sentence for a post he shared on social media about the war in Gaza.
The Nice criminal court said on Wednesday that a video Atal reposted on social media in October provoked hatred on the grounds of religion.
It also ordered the footballer, who plays for the Ligue 1 team Nice, to pay a fine of 45,000 euros ($49,000).
The comments at issue came in a video of preacher Mahmoud al-Hasanat, which Atal posted to his 3.2 million Instagram followers five days after the October 7 start of the Israel-Gaza war.
After speaking about the children Israel was killing in its retaliatory attacks on Gaza, al-Hasanat reportedly made an anti-Jewish remark and called on God to “guide the hand” of Gaza Palestinians striking back.
