French man sent to prison for visiting pro-ISIS websites
By Brinke Guthrie December 4, 2016
In a ruling that has human rights groups upset, a French
man was sentenced to 2 years in prison for repeatedly visiting pro-ISIS
websites — even though there no indication that he was planning to stage any
type of terrorist attack. The unidentified 32-year-old was convicted in a court
in Ardèche this past Tuesday under a controversial new law. According to The
Verge, police discovered the man’s browsing history after raiding his house.
They found pro-ISIS imagery and execution videos on his phone, PC, and a USB
device. His PC sported an ISIS flag as its wallpaper, and the computer password
was “13novembrehaha,” a rather pointed reference to the date terrorists killed
130 people in Paris. Police said he had been visiting jihadist websites for 2
years.
Officials came across this man while checking out someone
else in the same region, and they’re allowed to conduct warrentless searches
and surveillance under French state of emergency laws.
The man defended his surfing habits in court, saying he
visited the sites out of curiosity. On FranceBleu, he said “I wanted to tell
the difference between real Islam and the false Islam, now I understand.” The
Verge also adds that the man’s behavior had recently changed, as he became
irritated when discussing religion, and had taken to wearing harem pants and a
long beard. In prison since November 25, he will also have to pay a €30,000
fine. (A bit over $31,000 USD.) Prior to this, he wasn’t on the radar of any
security agency, and only had some petty crimes in his background.
Patrick Baudouin is the honorary president of the
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH). He termed the sentence as
“excessive,” and said judicial standards in France have been relaxed as a
result of the emphasis on security. “The consultation of a site does not define
a person as a terrorist,” he stated.
The conviction is part of a new law that makes the
“habitual” viewing of terrorist-themed websites a crime. You get a pass if
you’re visiting those websites “in good faith,” for “research, to inform the
public, or for judicial purposes.”
France has been locking down certain sections of its
internet in order to stem the tide of online radicalization. The country passed
a law after the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks that lets the government block sites
that promote terrorism, and it doesn’t need a court order to do so.
Intelligence services were also given broad surveillance powers under a law
that some call a “French Patriot Act.”
The Constitutional Council is the highest court in the
land, and it will consider whether the new website law is constitutional within
the next 3 months, according to Reuters. Le Parisien says 13 cases have been
brought under the law since mid-October.
France has also taken an online offensive, known as
#toujourslechoix (“always the choice”). Its purpose is to deter young people —
the most impressionable — from joining terrorist causes.
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