3 days ago
French-Moroccan student faces charges for hacking Paris-Dauphine profiles with Palestinian flag
Motawassim L., a 22-year-old French-Moroccan computer science master's student at Paris-Dauphine University, is facing charges for altering the intranet profiles of 18 students on October 7, 2024. He allegedly replaced their profile photos with a Palestinian flag and the slogan «Free Palestine». According to Le Monde, the cyberattack, carried out from his family home in Saint-Denis, targeted students identified as members of the Dauphine chapter of the Union of Jewish Students (UEJF).
At a court hearing on Friday, July 11, the public prosecutor requested a five-month suspended prison sentence and mandatory participation in a citizenship program at the Shoah Memorial. While the main charge is «fraudulent modification of data», civil parties—including LICRA and the Union of Jewish Students of France—have called for the act to be qualified with the aggravating circumstance of antisemitism. They argue that both the selection of targets and the timing point to a deliberate attack based on religious affiliation.
Motawassim L. denies any antisemitic intent. He described his actions as a political statement made «in a moment of emotion… in reaction to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza», and insisted it was not driven by hate. «It was more of a political act, in the context of student protests», he said, explaining that he selected the profiles based on visible interactions on UEJF's Instagram page.
His defense team argued that emotional context should not distort the legal interpretation of the incident. His lawyer, Vincent Brengarth, cautioned against framing the case as overly symbolic. «It is not this court's role to make up for the events of October 7», he said, as reported by Le Parisien.
