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French far-left politician arrested after tweet celebrating death of policeman killed by terrorist

Deleted member 15428

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
13,464
I guess the police weren't too happy about this:

A former French left-wing parliamentary candidate has been arrested over his tweets about a policeman killed during a jihadist siege in southern France last week.

Stéphane Poussier appeared to celebrate the death of Lt-Col Arnaud Beltrame, saying it was great.

He added that the death in the town of Trèbes meant one less voter for President Emmanuel Macron.

French media say he could be charged with apologising for terrorism.

Mr Poussier's Twitter account has since been deleted. It is unclear if this action was taken by him or the platform, after the tweets caused an outcry and were reported by other social media users.

The ex-candidate said the death made him think of a friend, activist Remi Fraisse, who died after police threw a concussion grenade during protests in 2014.

Col Beltrame, 44, died after being shot when a jihadist stormed a supermarket in Trèbes on Friday.

He has been hailed as a national hero after trading places with one of the hostages.

He will be honoured in a national memorial in Paris in the coming days.

Friday's attack - which killed four people - was the worst jihadist attack under Emmanuel Macron's presidency.

The maximum penalty for apology for terrorist acts is seven years in prison and a fine of €100,000 (£90,000; $120,000), according to Le Monde newspaper.

Stéphane Poussier stood as a candidate for La France Insoumise (France Unbowed), the far-left party led by Jean-Luc Mélenchon, during legislative elections in 2017.

The party has expelled Mr Poussier, calling his tweets "shameful and abject".

Mr Mélenchon also tweeted to condemn the "disgusting" remarks and to praise Col Beltrame for giving his life for the service of others.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43534445

st%3Fphane+poussier+%3F+++stephanpoussier++++Twitter.png
 
Geoff

Geoff

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
7,115
Of course they weren't too happy about it. The man literally sacrificed his life for others.
 

Torres

Member
Oct 29, 2017
265
This is awful. It's been happening a lot under the US, where people get arrested for anti-cop sentiment on Facebook. Shits scary

Edit: this is regardless of whether it was made in bad taste or not
 
Son Lamar

Son Lamar

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
3,238
Alabama
It's fucked up that he said that but doesn't seem like he's apologizing for terrorism more so making. Really shitty joke
 
Servbot24

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
43,183
Torres said:
This is awful. It's been happening a lot under the US, where people get arrested for anti-cop sentiment on Facebook. Shits scary

Edit: this is regardless of whether it was made in bad taste or not
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Wait what? How can you get arrested for that in the US (assuming it's not publicly admitting to a crime)?
 
Nepenthe

Nepenthe

When the music hits, you feel no pain.
Administrator
Oct 25, 2017
20,733
Out of all the cops in the world to shit on, you chose the one who died actually serving and protecting people. Moron.
 
Sgt. Demblant

Sgt. Demblant

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,030
France
His tweets are profoundly disgusting. I don't know about getting arrested for them though, but we'll see where this goes.
Unfortunately, I know plenty of far-left people around me in Bretagne for whom utter hatred of the cops and gendarmes absolutely supercedes anything good one of them might do. It's a shame.
 

Deleted member 4552

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,570
"Apologising for terrorism" is a ludicrous crime even if this guy is a turbocunt.

Beltrame entered that situation essentially knowing he was committing suicide just to save the woman.

This prick doesn't have an ounce of the honour or the courage of Beltrame.
Total everlasting Obscurity is what he should get.
 
thesoapster

thesoapster

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,910
MD, USA
Really shitty thing to do/say, but I hate the idea of being arrested for something like this.

Torres said:
This is awful. It's been happening a lot under the US, where people get arrested for anti-cop sentiment on Facebook. Shits scary

Edit: this is regardless of whether it was made in bad taste or not
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Servbot24 said:
Wait what? How can you get arrested for that in the US (assuming it's not publicly admitting to a crime)?
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Yeah, I'm going to have to join in here. When has this happened?

Edit: That's perceived as making threatening speech. I don't think anyone has been arrested for saying "good riddance; fucking pig" when a cop dies.
 
FrequentFlyer

FrequentFlyer

Banned
Dec 3, 2017
1,273
I assume he won't actually land in prison, but pay a hefty fine, which is appropriate.

Media outlets like to quote the maximum possible sentences to sensationalize, unless he has multiple relevant prior convictions and other factors they will not ever be applied.

Also I hope this won't turn into thread #35343 about free speech.
 

Deleted member 35204

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Dec 3, 2017
2,406
What a dumb person, he celebrated the death of one of the few that actually gave his life for other people.
 
Fanatic

Fanatic

Member
Oct 30, 2017
580
Denmark
As a libertarian I can't agree with him being arrested for this.

I'm however in full support of naming and shaming for the piece of shit he really is.
 

Deleted member 21380

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
528
Germany
This is another, and maybe a clearer example of how overbearing (!) hate speech laws can fuck you over than the one shown in the nazi pug thread.

I think we all can agree, given that this policeman IS a fucking hero who died doing something incredibly selfless, that this tweet was a fucking gross shit to do, laws against speech need to be applied with great care and thought.

I think we in Germany did pretty well with these sort of things, even a big fuckup in the 90s (people getting charged and fined for wearing a crossed out swastika symbol because the swastika was still identifiable) was eventually fixed in a sane way. Probably because we know how effectively laws against speech can be used against you.

It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the end.
 
Fanatic

Fanatic

Member
Oct 30, 2017
580
Denmark
Birdseye said:
I thought even libertarian thinkers would consider encouraging murder as a crime, but I might be wrong
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I'm not French so I'm relying on the translations for that article. It doesn't appear that he's literally encouraging murder, simply that he's happy that somebody is dead.

I'd be happy if several people were dead, but I don't think that constitutes encouraging murder.
 

Torres

Member
Oct 29, 2017
265
SolidSnakex said:
That's not simply an anti-cop comment. It was a threat.
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I'm not trying to derail the thread but that's never been enough to get convicted. I can make a post saying let's kill Donald Trump, but without any specifics, without a plan, without eminent danger, it's supposed to be protected political speech.

"Landon Davis, a San Francisco public defender, noted that the courts have granted citizens broad protections to criticize public officials, even if the comments are repulsive or shocking. Davis recently represented a man accused of making racist threats against a black police chief on Twitter, but ultimately convinced a judge to drop the charge on free speech grounds.

"As offensive as his statements were, if you look at the entire context, it was completely political," said Davis, who is black."

Obviously the French laws are different, but there's police overreach everywhere.

Edit: any further discussion will be derailment. Police are agents of the state and we are allowed free speech in speaking out against them. I think free speech protections should be much stronger when we're speaking of making comments, no matter how heinous, in reference to the police if there is no substantiated threat involved. By all means put them on a list, but no threat of a crime = free speech violation in my book. If it was a citizen to citizen threat, it'd be different.
 
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VAD

Member
Oct 28, 2017
5,535
Idiot. I hope his punishment will be examplary. He has the train of thoughts of a terrorist.
 
hydrophilic attack

hydrophilic attack

Member
Oct 25, 2017
21,468
Sweden
FrequentFlyer said:
I assume he won't actually land in prison, but pay a hefty fine, which is appropriate.

Media outlets like to quote the maximum possible sentences to sensationalize, unless he has multiple relevant prior convictions and other factors they will not ever be applied.

Also I hope this won't turn into thread #35343 about free speech.
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Why would it be appropriate in this case with a criminal conviction, but not in the case of someone making a video saying "gas the jews" dozens of times?

Why do you fall over yourself to defend "free speech" when the one in trouble is celebrating violent nazism, but when someone is celebrating violent Islamism, it is suddenly not the time to discuss free speach?

I think criminal convictions are relevant both when someone celebrates violent nazism and when someone is celebrating violent Islamism
 
Sulik2

Sulik2

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
8,168
I really, really love the way Europe views hate speech. The USA would be a better country if we could get some of these laws passed here and recognize that hate speech should not be protected as free speech.
 
GeoGonzo

GeoGonzo

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
4,334
Madrid, Spain
I'd never say "serves him right" because punishing dumb, hateful comments with jail time seems like a clear escalation... but I can't really lift a finger in support of this jackass.
 

Deleted member 2809

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
25,478
Yeesh, hadn't heard of it. Coming from the party that was both siding during the second round in last year's election.
 
FrequentFlyer

FrequentFlyer

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Dec 3, 2017
1,273
hydrophilic attack said:
Why would it be appropriate in this case with a criminal conviction, but not in the case of someone making a video saying "gas the jews" dozens of times?

Why do you fall over yourself to defend "free speech" when the one in trouble is celebrating violent nazism, but when someone is celebrating violent Islamism, it is suddenly not the time to discuss free speach?

I think criminal convictions are relevant both when someone celebrates violent nazism and when someone is celebrating violent Islamism
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Because one was a joke video that was prefaced as such and received as such by a huge majority of viewers. The other is a politician and former member of parliament publically celebrating the death of someone killed in a terrorist attack a few days earlier. I don't see him prefacing that with "actually celebrating death of policemen is horrible" or it being an obvious joke, neither did people view it as such. I'm not "falling over myself" and your post frankily seems like a bad attempt of a "gotcha" moment.

and for reference, of course a lot of people finding it funny / realizing it is a joke does not make it not offensive. But it provides context and evidence of public perception which of course has to play a role. If for example a comedian said something like "Well, at least one less Macron voter eh? Nah but seriously, this guy was a hero" then of course I'd also say in the given context that's not hate speech, but that or a similar context is lacking here.
 
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Strelok

Strelok

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,267
Karnaca, Serkonos
hydrophilic attack said:
Why would it be appropriate in this case with a criminal conviction, but not in the case of someone making a video saying "gas the jews" dozens of times?

Why do you fall over yourself to defend "free speech" when the one in trouble is celebrating violent nazism, but when someone is celebrating violent Islamism, it is suddenly not the time to discuss free speach?

I think criminal convictions are relevant both when someone celebrates violent nazism and when someone is celebrating violent Islamism
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Yeah, looking at what he says, he is happy abt it but does not encourage terrorism, I know that what he says is negative and hurtful to victims and others, but if we start going that way, half of the members here should be in jail, jusy looking at the Nra and Trump posts
 
99Luffy

99Luffy

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
1,344
Sulik2 said:
I really, really love the way Europe views hate speech. The USA would be a better country if we could get some of these laws passed here and recognize that hate speech should not be protected as free speech.
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'oh well at least thats one less trump supporter voting.'

*gets arrested
 
GhostTrick

GhostTrick

Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,326
Son Lamar said:
He may not be joking but I don't think he is apologizing for terrorism
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The justice will see. Understand the context though:
You have a politician rejoicing about a policeman death, who gave his life to exchange himself with an hostage, to then be killed by a terrorist. This happened 2 days ago. So yeah...
 
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