At the Paris Court of Justice,
At the helm, the defendants keep a low profile and seem a little lost. Most of them are barely 18 and facing justice for the first time. Some have baby heads, and were accompanied by a parent. Their attitude, calm and sorry, contrasts with the content of the messages they posted on social networks at the beginning of 2022. This Wednesday, these ten young people appear before the 17th chamber of the Paris judicial court for having cyberharassed and threatened the influencer Benjamin Ledig, author of a controversial video in a church. Three of them are also being prosecuted for homophobic insults uttered on social networks.
In February 2022, Benjamin Ledig created controversy by posting a video on TikTok which shows him twerking in a Parisian church with a friend. The sequence has gone viral and has been widely commented on social networks. Since then, the young man claims to be the victim of very violent cyberbullying. Jacket with pink flowers, white T-shirt, black pants and white sneakers, he describes in tears the “complicated year” he has just had. “I’m afraid they’ll hit me, insult me, won’t let me talk,” he explains, adding that “every day” he also gets insulted “in the Street “. “I’m a bit unhappy. “He even claims to consider stopping making videos, to start studying law.
“I reacted with emotion”
Arnaud* came across Benjamin’s video one night while he was playing video games. “I was a little in my world, I just reacted, I was a little disconnected”, blows the young man, white shirt and gray jeans. “As a Christian”, he felt “hurt and shocked” by the images. “That’s why I reacted with emotion. He logged on to a forum on the jeuxvideo.com site and left the following message: “We must cut the throats of both of them. According to him, he had “never”, in the past, used “such violent terms” to comment on a subject on the Internet. He has since written a letter of apology to the complainant. “You were aware that you were part of a movement? asks the president. “No,” he replies. “I knew he was being criticized, but not that he was being harassed. »
Messages as virulent, Benjamin has yet received in spades. The one sent on Twitter by Guillaume stands out: “I swear the Benjamin you must not kill him, you must not just kiss his face, you must make him paraplegic, this son of a bitch, he will never twerk again in his life. “I said that because I no longer wanted him to do this kind of dance in sacred places”, explains the teenager sheepishly at the helm. “It was figuratively speaking, it wasn’t what I thought,” he says. Does the fact that he was shocked by Benjamin’s video justify such remarks, asks the magistrate. “No, on the contrary… Finally… No…” Since this case, he swears to spend less time on social networks. “Before, I spent 4 or 5 hours there a day, but now I just go there to meet friends. »
“A Torrent of Hatred”
“Without thinking too much”, Karim posted his message inviting “the bandits of 93” to “torture” the complainant. “I wrote the tweet quickly, but didn’t really mean it, that’s why I deleted it,” he continues. The young man “reacted hot” after seeing another video by Benjamin Ledig, in which he films himself washing his windows with a copy of the Koran. “He was complaining about being harassed because of the video at church, and some time later he did it again with another religion. I did not understand, ”claims the defendant.
Other Internet users have gone much further, mixing homophobic threats and insults. The oldest of the defendants – absent at the hearing – wrote at the material time: “Hitler should have burnt the PDs. In police custody, the tone was less vehement. “I was a big asshole to have written that,” he then confided to the police. “I poured out a torrent of hate, I apologize for having made these remarks. I reacted with anger and annoyance. »
“Crowd Ignition Mechanics”
For the plaintiff’s lawyer, Me Alexandre Bigot Joly, the defendants tried during the hearing to “minimize the seriousness of the alleged remarks” as well as the “consequences” on his client. “Justice must be firm, otherwise what message are we sending to victims of harassment? “he launches in court, recalling that Benjamin Ledig is now” depressive “, “lives withdrawn into himself, and is constantly threatened”.
“What is striking in this case is the mechanics of the conflagration of the crowd”, analyzes the prosecutor who requires “a warning sentence”: 4 months in prison suspended, for seven of them, 6 months suspended prison sentence for the other three, accused of having uttered homophobic insults. She also asks that they follow a course of citizenship.
Defense lawyers are trying to demonstrate that their clients are not guilty of harassment within the meaning of the law. They only sent one message each and didn’t try again. Above all, they point out, the defendants did not speak directly to Benjamin Ledig. They didn’t think he would read their violent and inappropriate comments. The decision will be made on September 13.
*Names have been changed