The trial of seventeen people, tried for aggravated online harassment targeting singer Eddy de Pretto, opened on Monday before the Paris Criminal Court.
Aged 20 to 26, the young defendants arrested all over France, are sent back to court for the hateful and homophobic cyberbullying of the singer – present in the front row, at the hearing – following a concert that he had donated to the Church of Saint-Eustache in Paris.
3,000 messages of insults and threats
Invited to perform at the “Qui va piano va sano” festival, Eddy de Pretto had performed his piece “A quoi bon” evoking the difficulties of reconciling his homosexuality and religion. “I don’t think I’m ready to obey your Bible (…) I know what you like, I don’t think I’ve read the right books / But you’ll tell me ‘no, it’s too much , you’re not healthy enough ” To come into your ranks, you must have done almost nothing, “sung Eddy de Pretto at the time.
Evoke these themes within a church itself? “I fully assume it (…) I do not see what the problem is that I am a sodomite who sings in a church”, launched the singer, called to the bar. “My desire was to ask questions as an artist on crucial and major themes, I didn’t think it could have such harmful feedback. »
At the end of his performance, posted on Instagram, he indeed received nearly 3,000 messages of insults and death threats on social networks, as his lawyer Nicolas Verly confirmed at the hearing. “You gigantic faggot”, “we will find you for your lack of respect, son of a bitch”, “die in hell dirty dog”, “I am going to rape you with a broom in a mosque”, for example, had written internet users , according to screenshots posted on the singer’s Instagram account.
“Sleep Disorders, Depressive Disorders”
Hate messages that prompted him to hire the services of a bodyguard and to file a complaint, triggering an investigation opened by the National Pole for the Fight against Online Hate (PLNH) of the Paris prosecutor’s office.
“I was very afraid to leave my house, sleep disorders, (…) depressive disorders, I could not understand this violence”, further indicated the singer, noting that the priest of Saint-Eustache him had “expressed its full support”.
The defendants – twelve present, five absent – will be judged on the counts of online harassment, with total incapacity for work (ITT) for more than eight days, and online harassment with ITT for more than eight days, committed because of the sexual orientation of the victim. The trial is due to last until Friday.