OGC Nice player Youcef Atal will be tried on December 18 for provoking hatred on grounds of religion after a publication linked to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas, the Nice prosecutor’s office announced on Friday.
Placed in police custody on Thursday, the 27-year-old Algerian international defender was referred to the public prosecutor’s office on Friday and summoned to the Nice criminal court.
While awaiting the judgment, he was placed under judicial supervision with a bail of 80,000 euros and a ban on leaving the national territory, except for reasons linked to his activity as a professional footballer.
In mid-October, a few days after the Hamas attack on October 7 and the start of Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip, he caused an outcry because of a video that he shared on his Instagram account.
According to a press release from the prosecution, in this video, preacher Mahmoud Al Hasanat called on God to send “a black day on the Jews” and to “accompany the hand” of the inhabitants of Gaza if they “throw the stone”.
On October 16, the prosecution opened a preliminary investigation into advocating terrorism and inciting hatred based on religion. At the end of the investigation, only the second count was retained.
Even though he quickly deleted his post and apologized, he was suspended until further notice by his club. The LFP disciplinary committee, for its part, imposed a seven-match suspension on him.
On the other hand, he started for Algeria’s two qualifying matches for the World Cup on November 16 and 19.
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.
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