The defendants are appearing for aggravated cyberstalking, death threats or even threats of crime, after messages targeting the businesswoman, boss of the Shauna Events agency.
These are three new large-scale trials for cyberstalking, after that in the Mila case in June 2021. From November 27, 28 people are referred to the Paris Criminal Court for aggravated cyberstalking, death threats or even threats of crime against Magali Berdah, head of the influencer agency Shauna Events.
The businesswoman denounces a cyberharassment campaign against her, triggered by rapper Booba since 2022 on social networks. However, an investigation continues against the artist, indicted on October 2 for “aggravated moral harassment” online: he is therefore not one of the defendants tried from Monday until the end of January. Franceinfo details the issues at stake in these three trials, spread over nine hearing days.
1 What do we know about the defendants?
According to information from franceinfo, among the 28 people referred to justice, there are 26 men and two women, aged 20 to 49. Their professional activities are diverse: maintenance worker, restaurateur, bank employee… Some are looking for work. These 28 defendants have “varied profiles”, summarized the Paris prosecutor’s office to AFP at the beginning of July. They “residing anywhere in France, with clean criminal records or already known to the police for violence and drugs”he then clarified.
2 What penalties do they risk?
All appear for harassment. This offense is constituted when the words “are imposed on the same victim by several people, in a concerted manner or at the instigation of one of them, even though each of these people has not acted repeatedly”, according to article 222-33-2-2 of the Penal Code. But it can also be so when several people, who attack the same victim, “know that these words or behaviors characterize a repetition”including “in the absence of consultation”.
When it comes to online harassment, the penalty incurred is two years’ imprisonment and a fine of 30,000 euros. But if the harassment is accompanied by aggravating circumstances, the sanction can be up to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. This is the case for the cyberharassment of Magali Berdah which caused her total incapacity for work for more than eight days. For four defendants, another aggravating circumstance was retained: the fact that the harassment was committed “because of true or supposed affiliation with a religion”. In other words, these are comments of an anti-Semitic nature. One of the defendants is thus accused of having written: “Too bad Hitler didn’t take care of your grandparents.”
In addition to cyberstalking, ten defendants are also referred to court for death threats, an offense punishable by 3 years of imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros. Ten others are for threatening to commit a crime, which can be punished with six months’ imprisonment and a fine of 7,500 euros. They are being tried for having sent messages on social networks to Magali Berdah such as “We’re going to burn you.”, “Go die bitch”, “I’m going to rape you bitch” or “We’re going to finish you off, you big whore.”.
3 Are they linked to the rapper Booba?
In the spring of 2022, Booba worked hard to denounce, on social networks, the “influvoleurs”, these influencers whom he accuses of multiple scams against Internet users. In his crusade against these practices, he specifically targeted Magali Berdah, which led to thousands of virulent messages from other social media users. It is their perpetrators who are referred to the Paris Criminal Court. Thus, certain death threat messages contain the hashtag #LaPiraterie, in reference to Booba’s clothing brand and the name he gives to his community of fans. “There is no doubt that the intentionality of these messages will be at the heart of the trials”estimate Magali Berdah’s three lawyers.
For his part, the rapper was indicted on October 2 for aggravated moral harassment, facts which he immediately denied. If Magali Berdah considers Booba responsible for this surge, on the contrary, the rapper absolves himself of any responsibility in the content of Internet users’ messages. And is defined as a “alert launcher” including L’“action was motivated by a single goal: to denounce the influencers”.
4 Why are there three trials?
They correspond to the three waves of arrests carried out in this case, at different times. It is the National Center for the Fight against Online Hate (PNLH), created in 2021, which coordinated and centralized the investigations carried out in different regions of France. The PNLH has been investigating cyberharassment targeting Magali Berdah since May 2022, following several complaints from the 41-year-old businesswoman, founder of a company specializing in relationships between television personalities and brands.
The first trial will take place Monday November 27 and Tuesday November 28, then Monday December 4 and Tuesday December 5. It will allow thirteen people to be tried out of a total of 28. Eight defendants will be tried during the second trial, on December 11 and 12. Finally, seven people will appear during the third trial on January 24, 29 and 30, 2024.
According to her lawyers, Magali Berdah will be present. “She is ready to face them, has been waiting for this for a long time. This trial is therefore an important moment for her, it illustrates the reality of the cyberharassment that she suffered”, they add. And to emphasize: “The challenge of this trial is to restore all dimensions of Magali Berdah’s victim status and to send a strong message to all victims of cyberharassment and to all perpetrators, to tell them that impunity has no its place on the internet.”