(April 4, 2026)

On Thursday, expressions of support came almost entirely from LFI and the far-left. For the anti-capitalist NPA, Olivier Besancenot expressed his “solidarity with Rima Hassan” on X, as did Nathalie Arthaud, the spokesperson for the Trotskyist Lutte ouvrière (LO).

Two former LFI members, Alexis Corbière and Clémentine Autain, also spoke out. “A member of the European Parliament placed in police custody for a retweet? Freedom of expression applied selectively is not the Republic,” said the latter. “The disproportionate repression of expressions of support for Palestine is clear, it must stop,” wrote the former.

On Friday, a handful of elected representatives from other parties began to join the chorus of criticism, including the communist MP Elsa Faucillon, who deplored a “relentless campaign revealing the mobilisation of the state apparatus against any solidarity with Palestine” and the Green MP Benjamin Lucas, who denounced “double standards”. Another Green MP, Sandrine Rousseau, expressed her “support” for Rima Hassan.

More surprisingly, the socialist MEP Chloé Ridel, a close ally of the Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure, also commented: “Everything about the police custody imposed on the European Member of Parliament Rima Hassan is disproportionate and violates her parliamentary immunity, whatever our disagreements. Was Louis Sarkozy [editor‘s note, son of former president Nicolas Sarkozy and a political commentator] placed in custody when he said about Palestinians ‘let them all die’?”