French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan Detained in Paris for Alleged Apology for Terrorism

French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan was placed in police custody in Paris on Thursday, April 2, 2026, on suspicion of apology for terrorism, according to sources within her party confirmed to AFP and reported by Le Parisien. The detention was carried out at the premises of the judicial police and is linked to a post Hassan published on March 26, 2026, on the platform X, in which she quoted Kōzō Okamoto, a member of the Japanese Red Army convicted for his role in the 1972 massacre at Lod Airport in Israel. A source within her party, La France Insoumise, described the measure as "hallucinating given that she has always attended all her summons." The post was subsequently deleted after investigators summoned Hassan. „She was summoned under the regime of police custody, which is hallucinating given that she has always attended all her summons” — LFI party source via AFP

Deleted tweet quoted convicted airport massacre perpetrator The post at the center of the investigation quoted Kōzō Okamoto, one of three members of the Japanese Red Army who carried out the attack on Lod Airport, now Ben Gurion International Airport, on May 30, 1972. The attack killed 26 (people) — killed in the 1972 Lod Airport massacre and wounded 80 others, according to La Vanguardia. Two of the three attackers died during the assault; Okamoto was captured and subsequently convicted. Hassan's post read: „Kōzō Okamoto: I devoted my youth to the Palestinian cause. As long as there is oppression, resistance will not only be a right, but a duty” — Rima Hassan via Le Parisien The complaint against Hassan was filed by Matthias Renault, a deputy of the Rassemblement National representing the Somme constituency, who referred the matter to the Paris Prosecutor's Office. In his referral, Renault argued that Hassan "explicitly refers to a perpetrator of a terrorist attack, uses a quote concerning him without distance or condemnation, but for purposes of inspiration, associates this figure with a normative justification of resistance presented as a duty." The investigation is being conducted by the national pole for the fight against online hate, known by its French acronym PNLH.

Hassan's detention follows acquittal in separate Strasbourg case This is not the first time Hassan has faced judicial proceedings over her public statements. In early March 2026, she appeared before a court in Strasbourg in a public insult case, in which she was acquitted, according to Le Figaro. Multiple complaints have been filed against her in the past for similar remarks, according to Franceinfo. The April 2 detention also comes against the backdrop of broader scrutiny of Hassan's associations with radical pro-Palestinian circles, as reported by il Giornale. It was at one of her conferences in Lyon that a young man identified as Quentin was killed by a group of antifascists linked to the "Young Antifascist Guard," a group founded in 2018 by deputy Raphaël Arnault and dissolved in 2025 by the French government. According to web search results, eleven people were placed in detention in connection with the killing of Quentin Deranque as of February 2026. The Young Antifascist Guard had on multiple occasions provided security at Hassan's events, according to il Giornale.

International antifascist network links Hassan to Italian MEPs Il Giornale also reported a connection between Hassan and Italian political figures, including MEPs Ilaria Salis and Mimmo Lucano of the Alleanza Verdi e Sinistra grouping, as well as the Italian trade union Cgil. On January 21, less than a month before the killing of Quentin Deranque, an "International appeal for the strengthening of antifascist and anti-imperialist action" was promoted and signed by various personalities from the radical left across multiple countries, according to il Giornale. The appeal called for sharing analyses and strengthening ties, and scheduled a large antifascist gathering that took place at the end of March in Brazil. Hassan, born in 1992 in the Neirab refugee camp near Aleppo, Syria, arrived in France as a child and later became a jurist before entering politics as an MEP for La France Insoumise. Her detention on April 2 drew immediate attention across European political circles, given her status as a sitting member of the European Parliament.

The 1972 Lod Airport massacre was carried out by three members of the Japanese Red Army, recruited for the operation by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The attack took place on May 30, 1972, at what is now Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. Among the 26 people killed were 17 Christians from Puerto Rico and eight Israeli citizens, according to La Vanguardia. Kōzō Okamoto was the sole surviving attacker and was subsequently convicted. The attack preceded the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre by several months.