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Mila Orriols was just one more French teenager until two weeks ago. But a video in which he uttered strong insults to Islam through social networks has made it the new face of the controversy over the limits of freedom of expression and the right to blasphemy .

"I hate religion, in the Koran there is only hate, Islam is bullshit. It's what I think, fuck, I can say what I think. I'm not racist, you can't be racist against a religion. I give your god a finger in the ass, "said the 16-year-old, who lives in the region of Lyon (eastern France), on her Instagram account.

This attack was a response to a user who had hinted at her and described her as a "lesbian and racist whore", after she, a homosexual, said she was not attracted to Arab girls.

Threats of death

Although only 30 people followed the live video, the recording was recovered by multiple accounts and has reached millions of views, which has triggered numerous death threats against the young woman, who has not been able to return to the institute where she studies.

" Mila and her family have particular vigilance and protection from the National Police ," French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner announced Wednesday at the National Assembly about a controversy that has mobilized much of the political class.

At first it was the leader of the extreme right, Marine Le Pen, and her ally Nicolas Dupont-Aignan who defended her on Twitter using the #JeSuisMila label , which takes up the emblem of solidarity with the satirical weekly 'Charlie Hebdo' when On January 7, 2015, he was subjected to an attack in which 11 people died, after having published cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.

The incident has served to relaunch the blasphemy debate, which is not included as a crime in French law, although defamation against individuals is punishable.

Freedom to blaspheme

The French Minister of Justice, Nicolle Belloubet, removed a fire that was already shaking social networks, stating that "attacking religion is attacking freedom of conscience." Only 24 hours later he said and rectified: "I shouldn't have said that."

Even more controversial were the statements of the head of the French Council of Muslim Cult - the main association representing the Muslim community in France - Abdallah Zekri, who said that "whoever sows winds picks up storms" , a phrase labeled "criminal" by Executive members.

Even the president of the country, Emmanuel Macron, has spoken on the issue and recalled, in statements to the press, that in France "there is freedom of expression, right to caricature and blaspheme."

The Prosecutor's Office opened a first investigation for provocation of hatred against a group of people for racial or religious reasons that has already been filed, while the Police are now investigating death threats against the girl.

"My life is paused"

"My life is on pause, my social life, my social networks, my schooling ... My parents, my establishment (teacher) and I myself decided that I should leave the institute because I was not safe, since there were people who threatened to burn with acid, hit me, undress in public, bury me alive . This has gone a long way, "she said Monday in an interview on the TMC network.

The girl, who has deleted her accounts on social networks where she used to share songs and makeup tricks, apologized on television for using such vulgar words and apologized to Muslims who "practice their religion in peace" and have He might be offended, but he reaffirmed himself in blasphemy.

"I don't regret my words, I don't have to stop living because of that. What I said was not against people, I just blasphemed, I said what I thought of a religion," he said.

The endorsement of 'Charlie Hebdo'

Now defended by the lawyer Richard Malka, the same one who bears the causes of 'Charlie Hebdo', Mila Orriols will continue the classes at her home until the Ministry of Education can find a center that meets the conditions to accommodate her.

In its next issue, which will appear on Wednesday, the satirical weekly publishes a special dedicated to blasphemy with a study of the Ifop demonstration center according to which half of the French are against the right to blasphemy. On the cover, the Minister of Justice appears caricatured with a vignette in which she says: "Atheists, I put a finger in your ass."

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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  • Charlie Hebdo
  • France
  • Marine Le Pen
  • Instagram
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Islam
  • Religion

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