French court jails, deports Iranian woman for praising “Al-Aqsa Flood”

A French court on Thursday sentenced Iranian national Mahdieh Esfandiari to four years in prison, including one year to be served, on charges of “glorifying terrorism” through social media posts. The court also banned her from French territory and ordered her deportation.

Esfandiari, 39, a student who has lived in Lyon since 2018, left the courtroom after her release, having spent eight months in pre-trial detention. 

Her lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said he would appeal the ruling, describing it as “harsh”.

Speaking after the hearing, Boudi said issuing a ruling that may have been influenced by diplomatic considerations could amount to a legal error. He confirmed that an appeal would be filed in the hope of securing a decision based strictly on legal and factual grounds.

READ: French foreign minister discuss Syria, Gaza with Qatari, Saudi counterparts

Esfandiari was arrested last year over online posts praising the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation carried out by Palestinian resistance factions against Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip on 7 October 2023.

French prosecutors accused her of publishing content in 2023 and 2024 through accounts under the name “Axis of Resistance” on Telegram, X, Twitch and YouTube, as well as on a website run by a French national.

Esfandiari acknowledged that she had come up with the idea of creating the “Axis of Resistance” network, but denied writing the posts attributed to her. She argued that the Al-Aqsa Flood operation was an “act of resistance” rather than terrorism.

She added that the attack came in response to the killing of Palestinian children and women and the detention of prisoners, maintaining that what took place was “resistance” and not “terrorism”.

READ: France’s censorship of voices calling out international complicity with genocide