In the News:
France: Decriminalize Apology for Terrorism?

French Minister Denounces Push To Remove ‘Apology For Terrorism’ From Penal Code, Agence France Presse (AFP), Barron’s, 2024-11-25.

France’s justice minister said on Monday that he was “resolutely opposed” to a bill aimed at removing “apology for terrorism” from the criminal code, a move that has attracted condemnation across the political spectrum.

The hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) proposal aims to axe a provision criminalising acts defending or positively portraying terrorist acts from the country’s penal code.

The law was part of an 1881 press law until it was added to the criminal code in 2014, as France saw a stream of its citizens travelling to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State jihadist group.

“I don’t understand how we can let our guard down in the face of the threat of terrorism, which is very present today,” Justice Minister Didier Migaud told France 2 television.

[…]

LFI figures have repeatedly been accused of anti-Semitism and backing Hamas, which is designated as a terror group by the EU and US, after its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel. The party has denied the charges.

The proposal is getting pushback from both sides of the political divide, with Socialist party boss Olivier Faure and Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau criticising the bill.

The decriminalization of apology for terrorism would be a shameful betrayal of the victims of the many terrorist attacks which have occurred in France in recent years. The French political party La France insoumise (LFI) corresponds roughly to the Quebec political party Québec solidaire (QS).

See also:

• Proposition de loi visant à abroger le délit d’apologie du terrorisme du code pénal, n° 577 (Draft bill to remove the crime of apology for terrorism from the penal code), Ugo Bernalicis, Assemblée nationale, France, 2024-11-19.