Ismaël Boudjekada, municipal elected representative of the commune of Grand-Charmont (Doubs) and defender of the Palestinian cause, was placed in pre-trial detention on Monday May 5. His trial for the apology of terrorism is to take place on July 3 in Paris. Explanations.
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Ismaël Boudjekada, the elected official of Doubs Pro-Palestinian, arrested on a plane on Saturday May 3 at Basel-Mulhouse airport (reread our article), was placed in pre-trial detention following his presentation to a judge of the Paris prosecutor’s office on Monday, May 5 in the evening. His trial for praise of terrorism is to take place on July 3. The Paris prosecutor’s office, contacted by us, confirmed the information.
“I don’t know at all how it will happen. It is very possible, in the pessimistic scenario, that there is a pre -trial detention”, had expressed the fervent defender of the Palestinian cause, accustomed to controversial words, a few moments before his arrest. He had broadcast his arrest live on social networks.
Ismaël Boudjekada, broadcasts his arrest on the plane directly when he arrived in Mulhouse-Bâle. • © Capture X
As a reminder, Ismaël Boudjekada, elected opposition registered on the Union Citoyenne de le Gauche and environmentalists in the municipal council of Grand-Charmont (Doubs), was arrested by the police due to two research mandates issued against him within the framework of two investigations of the Paris prosecutor’s office, “For offenses in the disclosure of personal information exposing others to a risk, and for apology for online terrorism”.
The interested party had already been convicted of online apology in June 2024 by the Nanterre court to a fine of 20,000 euros and three years of ineligibility, a decision which he called. Two days after the bloody attacks of October 7, 2023 in Israel, the elected official of Doubs had qualified Hamas, an organization based in Gaza and recognized as a terrorist by France, as “resistance movement”.
In October 2024, in messages published on X (ex-Twitter) where he is particularly active, the Doubs city councilor also wrote: “A hero is dead… This martyr is one of the lucky ones”. He referred to the chief of Hamas Yahya Sinouar, killed by Israeli soldiers on October 16 in the Gaza Strip.
“There are still people who expect us today to cry the 1,200 Israeli civilians who were killed, well no, it was a little deserved, I want to tell you. And then we’re going to say it slowly: everyone will be very happy when Hamas has finished the work, don’t you think? “he also said in August 2024. For each fact reproached for the apology for online terrorism, the elected official of the Doubs faces 7 years imprisonment and 100,000 euros fine. Regarding the facts of public crime or offense, the elected risk of 5 years of imprisonment and 45,000 euros fine.
The words of Ismaël Boudjekada had been the subject of several reports, from associations, but also by Bruno Retailleau, Minister of the Interior. Matthieu Bloch, UDR deputy for the 3rd district of Doubs, had also seized the public prosecutor of Montbéliard under article 40 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, following messages published on Boudjekada account.
“Since March 2, the Israeli army has been blocking any delivery of food, fuel and medication in Gaza, the two million inhabitants of which are taken in pincers between bombs and hunger”recalls the UN, in a press release dated April 30, 2025.
Two months after the start of the total blockade imposed by Israel at the entrance to Gaza aid, Gavin Kelleher, a recently returned humanitarian access manager of the Palestinian enclave, quoted by Lemonde.fr explains: “I think we can say with certainty that if the situation continues, thousands of people will die, starting with the most vulnerable.”
Gaza, Le 6 May 2025. • © Alı Jadallah / Anatolia
The last major conflict between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist and nationalist movement, broke out on October 7, 2023. In response, Benyamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister from the far right, launched the operation “Glow swords”, imposing a total seat of Gaza and intensifying the air strikes. This operation Embarked a major humanitarian crisis: more than 40,000 Palestinians were killed, 85 % of the Gaza population was moved, and severe food and medical shortages hit the region.
The living conditions deteriorated to the point where Gaza became “unlivable” according to the UN. According to an amnesty international survey, the Palestinian population of Gaza is the victim of a genocide (more info). A year after the start of hostilities, the situation remains extremely tense, with intermittent ceasefire negotiations without any improvement in the situation. Monday, May 5, the Israeli government announced a new military campaign in the Gaza Strip providing for the “conquest” of the territory.
