La France Insoumise MEP Rima Hassan is facing mounting legal pressure after two new complaints were filed against her this week, one by the newspaper Le Parisien and another by Senate President Gérard Larcher.
The first complaint was lodged by Le Parisien following Hassan’s public attacks on their international journalist Robin Korda. After Korda published an article exploring alleged links between Jeffrey Epstein and Russia, Hassan accused him on social media of trying to “make us forget the Mossad trail,” insinuating Israeli intelligence involvement. She urged followers to visit his profile and search for terms like “Israel” and “genocide,” which has reportedly led to a wave of online abuse, including antisemitic insults and death threats.
The newspaper says several legal actions will follow, citing public defamation, incitement to hatred or discrimination, public insult of a racial or religious nature, and mob harassment. Korda is now under protection due to the threats.
In response, Hassan dismissed the legal actions as a political distraction: “This is a known strategy – it aims to shift public focus and avoid accountability.” She accused Korda of pro-Israel bias, claiming his reporting on Israel and Hamas lacked neutrality and unfairly blamed only Hamas for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The second complaint comes from Senate President Gérard Larcher following Hassan’s verbal attack on Senator Laurent Duplomb, whom she called a “piece of trash” for supporting legislation to reauthorize certain banned pesticides. She added that “in a healthy democracy, his place would be in prison.” Larcher announced a complaint has been filed and the Senate may join as a civil party.
This incident adds to a growing list of controversies surrounding Hassan, who has repeatedly drawn criticism for her inflammatory rhetoric. Gérard Larcher also reminded the Justice Minister of a previous complaint filed in May against Hassan for defamation and insults, asking: “Where does the case stand, Gérald Darmanin?”
Hassan hit back by questioning Larcher’s spending, asking on X (formerly Twitter): “Where is the reimbursement for your two armchairs that cost €34,000 (€40,000 including tax)?”
The escalating situation underscores growing tensions in French political discourse, especially around sensitive topics such as antisemitism, freedom of expression, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
