French interior minister accused of drug-smearing pro-Palestinian MEP

Laurent Nunez allegedly spread a false story about left-wing lawmaker Rima Hassan while she was in custody over a social media post French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez is under fire over allegations that he helped fuel a false drug story about MEP and prominent pro-Palestine activist Rima Hassan while she was in custody over a social media post.

Hassan’s left-wing La France Insoumise (LFI), or France Unbowed party, has demanded that Nunez resign after a France 2 investigation released Wednesday alleged he leaked a false story to reporters about drugs purportedly found in Hassan’s belongings by police.

The drug was later identified as legal CBD (cannabidiol) products and the probe was dropped, prompting LFI to accuse Nunez of media “manipulation” and fueling a false story.

What exactly happened? The case dates back to April, when Hassan was summoned to Paris police headquarters over a since-deleted social media post quoting Kozo Okamoto.

Okamoto, a member of the Japanese Red Army, was convicted over the 1972 Lod Airport attack in Tel Aviv, carried out on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which killed 26 people.

Read more France can’t finance Ukraine forever – Le Pen party head The French-Palestinian MEP and prominent pro-Palestinian activist was placed in custody on suspicion of online “apology for terrorism,” an offense punishable by up to seven years in prison.

During an inventory of her belongings, police found two containers, one holding a brown substance and another containing white crystals.

Hassan said both were CBD products legally bought in Brussels and used for medical reasons.

A preliminary police test indicated the white substance contained synthetic cathinones associated with illegal drugs.

Before laboratory results were available – and while Hassan was still in custody – reports that synthetic drugs had been found among her belongings began circulating in the media.

The Paris prosecutor’s office subsequently opened an investigation into her suspected drug use, transport, and possession.

However, laboratory tests later established that the substances were CBD, and the investigation was dropped.

Read more Macron’s final gift: A law for death Now, according to “Complement d’enquete,” Nunez himself allegedly helped fuel the story.

What did Nunez tell reporters? The program says Nunez was returning by train from an official trip to Bordeaux when reporters approached him and asked off camera whether drugs had been found in Hassan’s bag.