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France sues municipal official over his solidarity with Barghouti

March 22, 2016 at 2:34 pm

A mayor of a French city has been taken to court because of a poster he placed on the municipality window showing support for Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, reported.

Barghouti was arrested by the Israeli occupation authorities in 2002 and has received five death sentences.

In 2009, Stains Mayor Izziddin Al-Tibi placed a poster showing Barghouti handcuffed and calling him the Palestinian Nelson Mandela.

Al-Tibi was re-elected in 2014 and maintained the poster despite protests from right-wing opposition groups.

Republican counsellor, Julian Mogerin, filed a complaint against Al-Tibi at the Seine­ Saint­ Denis Department, which Stains belongs to, claiming the poster “conveys… a political message and takes sides in a foreign conflict, which represents a violation of the law.”

He also claimed that Barghouti’s “actions and the condemnations [they entailed] are already triggering violent local controversy likely to create public turmoil… Finally, considering the lack of local interest in this tribute to Barghouti, it seems the municipality has made an obvious mistake.”

Al-Tibi insisted the poster remain and defended Barghouti, reiterating that maintaining it is a local issue as most of the city’s residents support the Palestinian people. He said many areas in Stains have been twinned with Palestinian municipalities.

He insisted on continuing his solidarity with Barghouti until he is freed.