French prosecutors have initiated an inquiry into an online harassment complaint filed by Olympic boxing champion Imane Khelif following a slew of criticism and false accusations regarding her gender during the Summer Games, the Paris prosecutor’s office disclosed on Monday. The boxer’s attorney Nabil Boudi lodged a legal complaint with a specialized unit within the Paris prosecutor’s office that tackles online hate speech last Friday. Boudi stated that Khelif was a target of a campaign characterized by misogyny, racism, and sexism as she clinched gold in the women’s welterweight division, elevating her to hero status in her homeland of Algeria and shining a spotlight on women’s boxing globally.
The prosecutor’s office confirmed receipt of the complaint and disclosed that its Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime had commenced an investigation, citing charges of “cyber harassment based on gender, public insults based on gender, public incitement to discrimination, and public insults based on origin.”
Khelif found herself involuntarily embroiled in a global debate concerning gender identity and sports regulations following her initial match in Paris, where her Italian adversary Angela Carini withdrew within seconds, attributing pain from initial blows. False assertions suggesting that Khelif was transgender or male surfaced online, prompting the International Olympic Committee to defend her and denounce those propagating misinformation. Khelif expressed that the dissemination of falsehoods about her undermines human dignity.
Notable personalities such as Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and J. K. Rowling were among those who shared inaccurate information about the athlete.
Khelif’s legal complaint was directed at social media platforms, including “X,” instead of singling out a specific culprit, in line with a common approach under French law that delegates the identification of potential wrongdoers to investigators. The Paris prosecutor’s office refrained from identifying specific suspects.
This development unfolded two days after Khelif’s return to Algeria, where she is slated to meet with President Abdelmadjid Tebboune and receive a warm reception from her family in her hometown of Ain Mesbah.
