We knew him more at ease on his pitch, green of course, lively and alert, inspired and verbose, in 2019 for example, in his number 20 jersey for OGC Nice, scoring three goals at Guingamp. But of course, Youcef Atal (27), professional footballer, has never practiced speaking in front of a criminal court for forwarding a 35-second Instagram video to his 3.2 million followers.
Abused with instructions by his lawyers, Mr Tom Michel, supported by the very media Mr Antoine Vey, the defendant, who risks a year in prison for “provoking hatred on the grounds of religion”, has continued to stammer the same antiphon: “I hadn’t listened to the video until the end, I wrote a sincere apology, I want peace, I have no hatred, I don’t want anyone to suffer. »
Nicolas Benouaiche has had enough
And then Nicolas Benouaiche, the lawyer for the European Jewish Organization, one of the five civil parties, had enough of the words tending to dilute their meaning. He proclaimed the transcription of the beginning of the message which led to this audience: “O Lord, we ask you, in these moments, to grant victory to our people. » He continued with the final sentence of the words of the Palestinian preacher, Mahmoud al-Hasanat, relayed by Atal after the Hamas attack of October 7: “O lord, show us a dark day for the Jews. »
And then he shouted another message, that of a Russian martial arts champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, evoking caricatures of prophets, a message liked by Atal the day after the attack on Notre-Dame de Nice in 2020: “Qu ‘Allah unleashes his punishment on anyone who encroaches on the honor of the best of men. »
So Atal lost his words a little, or didn’t find them, refused to answer sometimes, turned to his interpreter, overwhelmed perhaps, embarrassed too, black shirt too big for him, he who doesn’t evolve only in the red and black jersey since 2018. It is easy of course to say that we regret what we admit as a clumsiness, we still have to answer the question of why, which was expressed in substance by the prosecutor.
“Mr Attal, who has lived in Nice since 2018, knows the tension linked to this context”
“Because they suspended me (Editor’s note: seven matches by the League, until further notice by the club), being on the pitch is what I like. I see what’s happening to me… And when people say that I have hatred… I have nothing against others (sic). » “The process that bothers me,” Antoine Vey will argue at the outset, “is that of personification. What he did, intentionally or not, was not smart. But it is actually the trial of something more important. » The video is 35 seconds long. Atal was in the selection with his Algerian teammates who, led by Mahrez, did not let him go, on the contrary.
“He doesn’t live in the same geopolitics as us,” breathes Vey. He had retweeted the imam’s video. The next morning, the sports director of OGC Nice warned him of the controversial nature of the message. The prefect then the mayor, Christian Estrosi, had alerted the public prosecutor. Apologies. Jail. The investigation will show that the player usually only posts football scenes online. And therefore court. Atal, with his almost whispered words, repeated, ten or twenty times, that he never got to the end of the video.
“Mr. Attal, who has lived in Nice since 2018, knows the tension linked to this context,” recalled the prosecutor. For a long time, at each OGCN match, in the 86th minute, tribute was paid to the victims of the crazy truck of July 14, 2016.
The lawyers of the Jewish organizations of course understood that Atal is not the only one on earth to have relayed the vindictive words of an imam, but the great story and the context of the moment pushed them to let nothing slip and to resummoning their favorite great men, suggesting that any action is responsible. “Tolstoy,” one paraphrased, said, “if you feel pain, it’s because you’re alive, if you feel the pain of others, it’s because you’re human.” »
“I have nothing against anyone”
Serge Taviatan, for Licra, virtually summoned athletes, an Owens who refuses to shake a Nazi hand, an American sprinter who raises a gloved hand, a Bartali who activates a network to save Jews. The debate arises, Atal remains silent. There is talk about the Soralians, those who stir up hatred, about taqiya, the art of dissimulation among Islamists. “Mr. Atal is neither in one nor the other,” insists Antoine Vey.
“When we rarely broadcast non-football videos, and we put this one online, we obviously found out who this imam is, it’s not just recklessness,” insists an accusing lawyer. At the end of the afternoon, the prosecutor requested a ten-month suspended sentence and a fine of 45,000 euros “in relation to her salary” (estimated at 100,000 euros per month), and a publication of the judgment on Instagram during six months. The decision was reserved until January 3.
Until the end, without ever raising his voice, preferring to raise the debate, Antoine Vey campaigned for relaxation. “Youcef Ataf will have the stamp of a symbol that is not his, a whole bunch of guys will say bravo to him for what you did for Gaza, a whole bunch of guys will want to kill him. He must not be the symbol of what we intend to do with him. »
One last time, the OGC Nice side stood up from his bench. “I have nothing against anyone. » In two days, Nice faces Lens. His last match suspension from the League. What will his club do?
2023-12-18 21:54:27
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