| schema:articleBody
| - Aged just 18, she has sparked a national debate about free speech, over which she has faced death threats online and been defended by President Emmanuel Macron. The French girl known simply as Mila says she craves nothing more than a normal life after the furore that erupted last year when her videos criticising Islam in vulgar terms went viral on social media. But a quiet life appears off the cards for now as France's most outspoken teen, who says she has received over 100,000 hateful messages, brings out a book entitled "I am the Price of Your Freedom". The publication of the book comes as the trial resumes in Paris of 13 people accused of subjecting her to such vicious harassment that she was forced to leave school and was placed under police protection. The story of Mila goes to the core of the debate over freedom of expression which has raged in France since 2015 when Islamist gunmen attacked the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo for publishing cartoons of the prophet Mohammed. The controversy intensified further when teacher Samuel Paty -- who had shown the caricatures in his civics class -- was beheaded by an Islamist radical outside his school in Paris in October 2020. Mila has been feted by some, especially on the right, as a hero of the fight for freedom of expression in secular France although critics accuse her of needlessly provoking observant Muslims. "If I get attacked then I am going to defend myself," she wrote in her book. "We no longer have the right to mock, criticise or insult religions, even when they are intolerant, sexist or homophobic," she said. The furore erupted on January 18, 2020, when Mila, then 16, who describes herself as pansexual, meaning she is attracted to people of all genders, was asked if she has a preference for whites, Arabs or Blacks. "I answered simply that Arabs and Blacks are not particularly my type and that they do not attract me physically," said Mila, whose full name has been withheld for security reasons, in her book. A boy who had shown interest in her then insulted her "in the name of Allah". After receiving threats she launched into an anti-Islam tirade, declaring: "Islam is shit (...) Your religion is shit. I put my finger into the asshole of your God. Thank you and goodbye". Her outburst triggered a flood of insults, with one person writing: "You deserve to have your throat cut." Forced to leave school -- no establishment wanted her, for security reasons -- she says her life became "hell". To go unnoticed during rare trips outside, she wore a disguise that made her feel like "Inspector Gadget", she said in a recent French television interview. "Even when I go outside, I am in prison," she said, declaring she just "wants to live free". The danger is real: on a language study trip to Malta last summer she was threatened with death and rape by a fellow student, who recognised her. He was arrested and convicted on the island. But in November Mila published a new video, reaffirming her previous tirade. The 13 being tried in Paris for subjecting her to online harassment, including death threats, are all aged between 18-30. Most have never had any brushes with the law before. "She received over 100,000 hate messages and death threats saying she would be tied up, cut up, quartered, stoned, beheaded, accompanied by coffin images, and photo-montages of her bloodied decapitated head," her lawyer Richard Malka who also represents Charlie Hebdo, told the court. When the controversy erupted, the hashtag #JeSuisMila (I am Mila) went viral in solidarity with her, echoing the #JeSuisCharlie slogan around which millions of people rallied following the 2015 attacks on Charlie Hebdo's cartoonists. President Emmanuel Macron was among those who defended Mila, saying: "The law is clear. We have the right to blaspheme, to criticise and caricature religions". Not all echoed such sentiments, however, especially on the left. Asked by French television "Are You Mila?" Socialist ex-president Francois Hollande replied testily: "No, I am Francois Hollande". He added: "We have the right to criticise religions. Mila had every right to criticise religion. But, like everyone else, me the first, she should not engage in hate speech about those who practice their religion." Mila says she finds France now a "fragile and cowardly nation" claiming that the "silent majority" who support her "do not do anything". "Even if I have a knife placed under my neck, I won't stop speaking out," she told the TF1 channel. "But I am still a young woman who does not know what to think about her future." gd-sjw/cb/yad
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)