French MEP Rima Hassan has been taken into custody by police in Paris as part of an investigation into allegations of "pro-terrorist views", her office announced.
Hassan, a member of the France Unyielding party, is being questioned over a social media post expressing solidarity with Kozo Okamoto, who was convicted of a 1972 terrorist attack at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel that killed 26 people.
A European Parliament spokesperson did not comment on the ongoing proceedings, but confirmed that the institution is in contact with national authorities and with the MEP herself.
Meanwhile, far-right lawmaker Matthias Renault, who reported Hassan's post to prosecutors, reacted publicly by calling the ban "the beginning of the end of impunity."
Rima Hassan, born stateless in a Palestinian refugee camp in Syria, is one of the most active pro-Palestinian voices in France and has previously faced accusations of "glorifying terrorism."
In September, she told Euronews that she was "honored" by the decision of students at the Faculty of Law at the Free University of Brussels to name their graduating class after her, a decision that sparked controversy in Belgium and France, leading to the launch of an investigation by the Paris prosecutor's office.
In June, she was arrested and held for several days by Israeli authorities after joining the “Freedom Flotilla,” an initiative to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza. The activists, who set off from Italy, were stopped about 200 kilometers from the coast.
Upon her return to France, a large demonstration in Paris celebrated her return. The flotilla consisted of 20 boats with over 300 participants, including activist Greta Thunberg and actor Liam Cunningham.
