An investigation has been launched into death threats against the journalist of “Forbidden zone” on the M6 Ophélie Meunier, placed under police protection after being threatened following a report on radical Islam, AFP learned on Monday from the Nanterre prosecutor’s office solicited by AFP. The investigations were entrusted to the Brigade for the suppression of delinquency against the person at the end of January, after the complaint filed at the police station of Neuilly-sur-Seine (Hauts-de-Seine) by Ophélie Meunier on January 26.
A report devoted to radical Islam
The journalist presented on January 23 an issue of “Forbidden Zone” devoted to the rise of radical Islam in particular in Roubaix, sparking strong reactions on social networks and threats. Among the most striking images: the sale of faceless dolls in a Muslim store in Roubaix (the saleswoman assuring that Islam forbade depicting human features) or veiled girls separated from boys in a private school in Marseille. Some saw it as a faithful and alarming description of the rise of Islamism, others as an alarmist and stigmatizing presentation of all Muslims.
The journalist and a resident under police protection
After receiving these threats, Ophélie Meunier and a young native of Roubaix, Amine Elbahi, a witness in the show and who denounced the rise of Islamism, were placed under police protection. “This that I said bothers. I must have aimed just in view of the threats”, Amine Elbahi had told AFP. In Paris, an investigation was opened on Friday on charges of malicious phone calls and death threats against this Roubaisian, the Paris prosecutor’s office told AFP. The latter entrusted the investigations to the Central Office for the fight against crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes (OCLCH).
Multiple media support
Since the broadcast of the report, journalist societies (LDS) and media in their own name, such as France Télévisions, have given their support to Ophélie Meunier. Like the magazines L’Express or Le Point, Le Monde devoted an editorial last week to the case. There he points out the danger that these threats pose to “freedom of expression and information”. “I want, on behalf of the whole government, to express our full and complete support” in Ophélie Meunier, the Minister delegate for Citizenship, Marlène Schiappa, had reacted for her part before the National Assembly and the Senate.
With AFP.
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