Although the trial of those who threatened a teenage girl for criticising Islam is under way, she does not feel safe. She received new threats and, although she has no suicidal thoughts, she believes she may not be alive in five years.
Mila, the French teenager who was harassed and mortally threatened on the internet for openly criticising Islam in a video on social media, has not given an interview for more than six months now. The life of the then 16-year-old teenage girl turned upside down after the video. She couldn’t go back to her previous school because it couldn’t guarantee her safety. Her case divided French society, with some saying she went too far in criticising Islam, and many thinking that there’s nothing objectionable in a French teenager openly stating her views on a religion. Blasphemy is allowed in France, as President Emmanuel Macron emphasized in his speech in Beirut in September 2020.
Marine le Pen, the leader of the largest opposition party, also took Mila’s side. According to right-wing politician, it is unacceptable that someone is condemned to death for her words in France in the 21st century.
Mila’s life will never be the same. She was recognised and threatened during a trip to Malta, where a man told her he would rape her and her mother in a basement, adding that he would strangle her if he was to see her again. He also threatened to disclose her whereabouts on social media.
For a long time after these atrocities, there were no news about Mila, but now she is back in the spotlight as the lawsuit against those who threatened heris under way. With 13 suspects on trial, Mila began to receive threats again, something she spoke about in the Sept a Huit TV show (seven to eight), among many other things.
In her recently published book, Mila quotes some of the threatening messages she received word for word. One of these says that she will be imprisoned in her own country. When asked by the reporter, Mila said this was absolutely true: she feels like a prisoner in her own country, because when she goes outside, she can only be sure she will not be recognised by wearing a wig and sunglasses for disguise, which she refuses to do.
Mila also revealed that she feels as if she ere a symbol because she is not afraid to say what she thinks and would not keep silent, even if someone pointed a knife at her throat. She added, however, that she is a young woman and if she is asked how she sees herself in five years’ time, her answer ois that she may no longer be alive. The fact that she cannot look towards having a future like her peers do makes her want to cry, she said, stressing, however, that she has no intention to commit suicide.
By: V4 Agency
