Nice resident Youcef Atal placed in police custody for “apology of terrorism” on social networks

Youcef Atal a partagé sur Instagram la vidéo d'un prédicateur. MAXPPP – Sebastien Botella

Sa publication sur le conflit Israël-Hamas a déclenché une enquête préliminaire.  

OGC Nice player Youcef Atal, targeted by a preliminary investigation for "apology of terrorism" after a publication linked to the conflict between Israel and Hamas, was placed in police custody on Friday, we learned from the Nice prosecutor, confirming information from the daily Nice-Matin.

The 27-year-old Algerian international defender quickly deleted his publication and apologized but the prosecution, contacted by the prefect and the mayor of Nice, opened an investigation.

OGC Nice sanctioned its player

His club suspended him until further notice and the LFP disciplinary committee for its part imposed a seven-match suspension on him. Despite the player's apologies, OGC Nice explained that they had chosen to “take immediately" sanctions, "prior" to those that could be taken by sporting or legal authorities, "taking into account the nature of the shared publication and its seriousness".

The Nice prosecutor announced on October 16 the opening of an investigation for "apology of terrorism" and "provocation to hatred or violence based on a specific religion". Atal had shared a video of a preacher on his Instagram account.

This post has been deleted by the player

As this post was deleted by the player, AFP was unable to independently verify its exact content. In a video that the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France (Crif) has kept, the preacher is moved by the fate of civilians in Gaza and calls for "a black day for the Jews" and that they cannot “raise their flag in Gaza”.

The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its 49th day on Friday, was triggered by the bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, on October 7 on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip, where he took power in 2007.

According to a latest report released Thursday by the Hamas government, 14,854 people have been killed in Israeli bombings on the Gaza Strip since October 7, including 6,150 children and 4,000 women.< /p>